


Silver and Gold

by Wild_Sylleblossom



Series: Silver and Gold [1]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Also I have a made-up island called the Island of Forbidden Riches., Also for those of you who recognize the title: hi it's me fawn447 from the Lego Message Boards., Also there's some slight OC x OC., And this takes place after Season 2., Another note: this was originally written while Season 3 was airing., First time posting on here., Hope it goes well., Keep that in mind when certain things are revealed., Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-03-02 18:20:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 42,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18816427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wild_Sylleblossom/pseuds/Wild_Sylleblossom
Summary: The Prologue is basically the summary, more or less.





	1. Prologue

After the Overlord was defeated by the Green Ninja, things have been peaceful in Ninjago. But that doesn't mean crime in Ninjago has ceased. While the heroes of Ninjago assist in the rebuilding of the city, a pair of young people have emerged from the shadows.

By day they pass as your usual citizens, but by night they are heroes assisting those in need. Time and time again they have beaten the Ninjas to the punch whenever trouble arises, and the boys are no strangers to mysterious heroes being one step ahead of them. The people of Ninjago City, however, were quick to notice the newcomers’ presence. Every day had the same questions asked—“Who are they, and where did these two ‘ninjas’ come from?”

The duo may think that they are alone on the streets at night, but little do they know that Sensei Wu had been watching them from the very beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes this is fawn447 from the Lego Message Boards. I've decided to also post the series here aside from posting it on my side blog on Tumblr. (Here's the link in case you wanna check it out: https://silver-ninja-of-the-tides.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Sorry if you've had trouble finding me again. I wasn't floating in the void, I swear. I've started Book 4 on my side blog if any of you are wondering about it. It's only got about ten chapters so far. Kinda lost my mojo but posting Book 1 on here should restart it. Also there'll be some changes in case you haven't read the Tumblr version--and some tweaks to that version. (Link to Book 4: https://silver-ninja-of-the-tides.tumblr.com/post/170809726709/silver-and-gold-4-not-just-a-tournament).
> 
> For those who are new, I hope you enjoy this fic series of mine. I've been working on it since 2014, so this is basically the longest fic shebang I've ever worked on. Anyway, hope you all enjoy!


	2. Here Come Some New Challengers!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up I may have some scenes roughly timed with music.

**Sensei's POV**

“I see the newcomers have reached the situation before you did.” My students were entering the living room of our recently acquired apartment with fierce irritation.

“Every time we think we’re finally going to get there before they do, they’re one step ahead,” Kai snapped.

“And these guys appeared from out of nowhere!” Cole added.

“It’s the Samurai all over again!” Jay complained. “I thought we were the ninjas around here.”

“What I do find intriguing is how they appeared a few weeks after Lloyd’s battle with the Overlord,” Zane contributed. “That cannot be a coincidence, can it?”

“I don’t think those guys have anything to do with the Overlord,” my nephew Lloyd said. “They are helping the people.”

“Yeah, before we can,” Kai grumbled.

“Perhaps tomorrow will have better opportunities,” I simply replied.

“I hope so.”

The boys went to retire for the night still discussing the new duo, and naturally I went to do the same. But as I was heading to my room, there was a stream of light coming from the study. Curious, I went to find out who was inside. When I opened the door, Misako was studying a single scroll intently.

She turned around with a look of surprise, but she relaxed upon seeing me. "Oh, it's only you. Good.”

I came up next to her. “What seems to be the trouble?”

Misako faced the desk again. “I had found this among my things shortly after the Final Battle.” The scroll she had portrayed a ninja of gold wielding the four elements, and there was only a single paragraph on the subject. “Early on in my research of trying to prevent Lloyd from fighting his father, I had found this. According to the scroll, it says that he has a connection with Lloyd, but it doesn’t say what kind of connection or how. As my research lengthened, I seemed to have forgotten all about it.”

“And now it has come to you yet again.”

“It would appear that way.” Misako stood up and went to a small trunk tucked away under the desk. After pulling it out, she opened it to reveal a gold suit. “The suit came with the scroll.”

I held up the suit and inspected it curiously. It was reminiscent to Lloyd’s golden suit in some aspects, but it did have some distinctions from it.

“I haven’t shown it to anyone yet. I wanted to make sure I understood the scroll completely before I did so.”

“Only Lloyd can wield the four elements, and yet it says the Gold Ninja, too, can control them. How is that so?”

“It doesn’t say why he does. Looking back upon everything now, most of the information is very vague.”

I looked to the scroll again, skimming for anything else. “It says here that he’s almost as powerful as Lloyd. Most intriguing. . . .” Perhaps the newcomers were brought here by destiny, and maybe I was right in assuming they had something special.

“You’re thinking one of those two is him?”

“My thoughts exactly. Destiny has brought them here for a reason.” I folded the gold suit and placed it back in the trunk. “I will alert my students of this in the morning. For now, both of us should get some rest.”

 

**Kai's POV**

Agh, I’m still steaming from yesterday! Who do those guys think they are? And how are they so fast, anyways? They must’ve had some sort of training from somewhere. Well, today’s a new day, and maybe we’ll finally catch up to those guys.

"Morning, Kai," Jay said with his mouth full.

"Morning," I said, grabbing an apple from the kitchen before taking a seat. I turned the fruit a few times, letting my mind wander. “You sure we shouldn’t consider those two to have anything to do with the Overlord?”

“Positive,” Lloyd said. “But I have to admit they are getting pretty annoying.”

Cole tapped his fingers on the counter in thought. “Say we actually start to look for them. What’s the point?”

“Look for them just for the sake of looking for them?” I suggested.

“But they only come out at night, so there’s no point in looking for them in the day.”

“So we start searching at night.”

“Looking for them only because they are faster than us isn’t exactly reasonable,” Zane added.

Jay swallowed another bite of food. “And we _can_ just live with them outsmarting us.”

“Morning, guys,” Nya greeted, walking in. “Still talking about the newcomers?”

“How can we not? They’re on the news every day!” I said. “I bet they’re on right now.” I briskly walked to the living room and snapped on the TV.

“Once again the mysterious ninjas have stopped yet another crime!” Gayle Gossip reported. “A minor robbery at the Ninjago Doomsday Comix store last night turned into a quick comic book ending thanks to them.”

The news displayed security footage of the duo swiftly taking care of the group of four robbers as she spoke, and the next shot switched to Gayle. _[Play Ninjago[“Prophecy of the Green Ninja”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rCGx9t8xsw)]_

“Sources and eye witnesses say that shortly after the crooks were taken into custody, they vanished! I guess it stands to say that the Ninjas of Ninjago may have some serious competition—”

I quickly shut the TV off. “See?! They’re everywhere!”

“I didn’t think there was a competition,” Zane said simply.

“Good. All of you are here.”

We turned to see Sensei accompanied by Misako.

“Our newcomers have proved to be more important than we realize.”

“How come?” Nya asked.

“A scroll I found years ago talks about a ninja of gold,” Misako said.

“You mean Lloyd?” Jay asked.

“No, not Lloyd.” She placed the scroll on the counter, and we all crowded around. “This one is entirely different. It says that he controls the four elements—”

“Sounds like Lloyd to me.”

Sensei smacked Jay’s head with his staff. “No interruptions!”

Misako stifled a smirk at the notion. “He may control the four elements, but the scroll doesn’t say how or why.”

“He also has a connection with you, Lloyd.”

“M-me?” Lloyd asked. “How?”

“It doesn’t say.”

“This scroll seems pretty vague,” Cole said as he crossed his arms.

“I agree with you, but maybe the reasons lie within him.”

“Perhaps one of the newcomers is the Gold Ninja,” Zane concluded.

“Which is why I am sending the five of you out tonight,” Sensei said. “Find the Gold Ninja, and bring him here.”

“What about the other guy?” Lloyd asked.

“If he is in relation with the Gold Ninja, then you will need to find him, too.”

Cole sighed briefly. “Well, looks like we’re going after them anyways.”

“But, if we’re supposed to look for them, doesn’t that mean there could be an evil lurking around?” I asked.

“I had suspected as much when Misako showed me the scroll,” Sensei said. “We will have to wait and see, and we must be prepared for anything, even if the Overlord is defeated.”

 

 

**Unknown POV**

I nodded at my partner G, who did the same in return. Dressed completely in black, we both pulled on our masks and began our usual routine. The full moon was high in the sky, providing additional light alongside the lampposts. I’ve always felt strongest at night, especially during a full moon. It’s just been a weird mentality of mine, I guess.

We jumped from rooftop to rooftop in search of anyone in need. The city was pretty big, but some parts almost always had someone messing around with people, like the main square, for instance. So there really wasn’t much of a need to scout the entire city in one night.

Stopping on the roof of a “mojo” dojo, G scanned the area for any passing people. Some lampposts were barely working, and some were even knocked down. How run down the square looked did get my gears turning. It still does. There was probably a massive storm that tore through here. Or an attack.

Coming towards us was a group of five boys. Upon reflex the two of us flattened ourselves against the roof, and the area was quiet enough for me to catch their conversation.

“Ooh, I wonder what they’ll look like!” the guy in blue said.

“I’m pretty sure they’re both guys,” the red one said plainly.

“Don’t get your hopes up, Kai. They might both be girls,” the black clad one said.

“Yeah. Nya was a Samurai and she’s a girl,” Blue said.

“Well samurais don’t count,” Red said.

G and I looked to each other. They can’t be looking for us, right?

We watched the group until they were well out of earshot, and yet I could still hear Blue. G and I looked to each other before slipping down between the dojo and another building. Low and behold, I was inches away from a puddle.

Pressing myself against a wall and avoiding the puddle, I could still hear the group from far away.

“They should be out by now!” Red complained, almost being as loud as Blue.

“What if we act like we’re the ones in trouble?” a boy younger than the others suggested.

As the conversation deepened, G and I slipped between two buildings across from us. I boosted my partner up toward a roof, and I was hoisted up afterwards. A loose shingle slipped off when G stood up, and it clattered onto the ground. Immediately we hit the deck, and I held my breath as I listened for the boys.

“You heard that?” Black asked.

“That must be them,” a boy said, his voice calm. So they _are_ looking for us. . . .

“Help! Someone help me! Thief!” a woman yelled. That was our cue.

“Someone needs our help!” Young Guy exclaimed. So citizens are gonna help. Nice one.

Their footsteps faded away, and my partner and I quickly made our way to the source of the scream. I gave the notion to split, and G went to a detour as I continued on my way. The night fueled me with energy, and I felt like I was running like the wind.

I flipped in the air, and my feet made rough contact with the ground seconds later. I looked the scruffy man in the eye, who skid to a halt. My eyes flickered to the handbag in his clutches, and I merely pointed to it.

The guy looked to the item. “What? This? This is mine, so mitts off!”

I shifted my body into a firm stance, and I taunted the man with a hand motion.

The man came in for a swinging punch, but I merely ducked under it and rammed my fist into his gut. The purse easily slipped from his hands, and I caught it before it hit the ground. “Why you—!” He was swiftly knocked out from behind, and I handed G the purse as I caught the rather heavy guy.

I struggled to sit him up against a crate as G went to return the purse. “Stay put, all right?”

Hearing footsteps from behind, I jumped on top of a dumpster and hoisted myself up onto a roof. As I ran, I could hear Calm Guy concluding what had happened and Red complaining about it. That red guy has some serious anger issues.

Tuning them out, I focused on the route ahead. Within a few minutes I saw G and a woman several feet away. Wow that guy didn’t get very far.

“Thank you, ninja,” the lady said as I landed next to my partner.

G nodded, and the woman went on her way. G extended an arm out toward the buildings, and I nodded in response. We were about to run off when footsteps sounded from behind us. Whirling around, both of us saw the same group of boys halt abruptly.

“Ah HAH! We finally got you two!” Red shouted.

G and I glanced to each other before darting off as fast we could.

“Don't let them get away!” Black said.

“They’re splitting up!” Blue exclaimed. “Split!”


	3. Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was one of my favorite chapters to write!

**Unknown POV**

I jumped off of a wall to leap onto a roof, and I quickly hoisted myself up before breaking into a run. Black and Blue were hot on my tail, and I could only assume the other three went after G.

“Let’s see how fast this guy is.”

I heard several quick footsteps before Blue suddenly appeared in front of me. Startled, I shoulder charged into him, and he tumbled off the roof before crashing into a couple of crates.

“Okay . . . he’s pretty fast. . . .”

I leapt onto the next roof only to have Black’s shadow zip over me. In the next moment he was in front of me, but I managed to keep from falling over the edge. Both of us refused to move for a few seconds.

“Look, we don’t want to—”

I punched him square in the jaw, and he staggered back a few steps.

“Okay fine. We’ll do this the hard way.” The two of us analyzed each other for a few brief moments before fists went flying.

“I thought the point was to find them! Not attack them!” Young Guy said from down below.

“Try telling this guy that!” Black exclaimed.

“And this one!” Red added.

I bent back to avoid a punch and nearly got his head with a kick.

“Woah! Hey you’re pretty good so far,” Black complimented. “Bet you’re not as good as him.”

I barely caught someone running toward me from behind, and I managed to throw myself to the side in time to see Blue accidentally kick his friend down with both feet. Who are these guys?!

****  
  
******G’s POV******

I kicked back and sent someone to their knees with a loud grunt, the guy scoffing despite the pain. The green one formed a glowing green orb and chucked it at me, but I leapt to the side at the last second. Someone slammed into something moments later, and the green guy winced.

“Sorry, Zane!” the green guy called.

Silver was expertly avoiding the recently fallen boys as the green guy flipped to behind me. I whirled around in time to catch his punch and throw it back, and we continued to go at it. The red one joined in, too, but Silver was up against three now.

“Hi-yah!” The red guy went to charge at me, but I simply side stepped as he crashed into his teammate.

The two of them stumbled away, and I smirked at their effort to catch me—that was my mistake.

The white one appeared out of nowhere and slide kicked me, but I flipped myself up right afterwards only to get kicked in the back, and I whipped around to punch—

Metal.

I shook my hand up and down for a few seconds before I had to duck away from a head grab.

“Bet you weren’t expecting to fight a Nindroid, huh?” Blue taunted from behind. “Aaahh!”

 

**Silver’s POV**

Blue tumbled off the roof, but he was able to land on his feet. The second I stood up I felt two feet shove me off the roof, and I only had seconds to ready myself before I hit the ground. The moment I touched the ground I rolled forward and stood up with a huff. Okay, wasn’t expecting that. And what’s a Nindroid?!

Black and Blue soon started to close in on me and gradually force me toward the others, and I narrowed my eyes at them.

“These guys just won’t quit!” Blue said.

“Well neither do we!” Red said.

I heard G yelp, and I looked behind me only to have someone tackle me down. I found myself face to face with Blue, and I didn’t miss a beat as I rammed my knee into his gut.

“Ninjaaa-GO!”

I stood up only to roll out of the way of a fiery tornado. Seconds later, he was wearing a red and black ninja suit. Wait. He’s a. . . .

I heard G go at it with someone, and G cried out again. All right, that’s it.

I bolted toward Green at full speed, and I heard another shout exactly like Red’s to my right. Black appeared between Green and me in his gray and black suit, and I didn’t hesitate to strike him with a thick water whip.

“Water!?” Black exclaimed in disbelief after miraculously blocking the shot with a sword.

“The other must be the Gold Ninja!” White exclaimed.

G yanked me toward her before stomping on the ground and forming an earth teepee.

“Any ideas?” I whispered.

“You’re the one that made the first move!” G accused.

“I wasn’t going to let them hurt you!”

“What about what we were taught?”

“We can hear you, y’know,” Blue said.

“We didn’t mean to attack you,” White said. “Our intention was only to find you.”

“Of course it was!” I snapped, deepening my voice.

“Hey you attacked first!” Black exclaimed.

“Who started chasing us?”

“How else we were supposed to catch you?” Red argued.

“Ever heard of talking?”

“Hey. Calm down,” G soothed.

“Don't tell me what to do!” I whispered.

“I just did!”

“Who's older?”

“Oh shut it!”

I rolled my eyes with a sigh before clearing my throat and deepening my voice again. “All right look. Just let us go, and we won’t bother you.”

“We uh, kinda can’t really do that,” Green said.

“Why? Who do you work for?!”

“Woah we don’t work for anyone! We’re just here to talk.”

“Well you should’ve said that before you _attacked us._ ”

G roughly bumped a hip against mine.

“That was Kai’s fault,” Blue said. “And Cole’s.”

“Hey!” Red and Black retorted.

I sighed. “Swear you won’t attack us, and maybe we’ll come out.”

“We won’t attack you guys,” Green said. “Right guys?”

Silence.

“Guys.”

“Ugh, fine,” Red groaned.

G and I exchanged glances before the teepee was lowered, and the red and black clad boys were seen unarmed and with their hoods off. We all studied each other, Red and Black looking skeptical while the others were still tense. I for one, did not like Spike here.

“Why were you looking for us?” I asked.

“We’re in search of a gold ninja, and it appears that he,” White looked to G, “is him.”

I slowly placed G behind me. “Why do you need a gold ninja?”

_[Play Ninjago “[Meet the Ninja”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYmHxJ3fuhk)]_ “We’re not entirely sure why, but we do know our sensei picked you guys because you have Spinjitzu inside you,” Black explained. “And there might be something evil lurking around here.”

I crossed my arms. “So you do work for someone.”

“Actually, he is more of a teacher,” White corrected.

 

********G’s POV** ** ** **

My partner stayed quiet. Now Silver’s being ridiculous. And I can handle myself!

“So . . . two of you are ninjas,” Silver finally said.

“Actually,” the white clad guy started before the rest of them literally spun to summon their suits, “all of us are.”

“We’re _the_ Ninjas of Ninjago,” the blue guy said matter-of-factly. “We save the city on a daily basis.”

“Although _someone’s_ been beating us to the punch lately,” the brown-haired guy muttered.

Silver and I exchanged looks again, and I was the first to pull my hood back before Sil.

The red one’s eyebrows rose a bit. “You’re girls.”

“Problem?” Silver challenged, her voice normal.

“Nope, not at all,” Blue said.

 

**Jay’s POV**

Well. Guess one part of the scroll was wrong.

“So who are you?” Lloyd asked.

“I’m Destiny, and this is my little sister Janet.” Destiny had brown eyes and brown hair that was tied in a rough bun, and her sister had green eyes and brown hair a few shades lighter that was pinned up in a neat bun.

“I’m Cole, and this here’s Jay, Lloyd, Zane, and Kai.”

“Nice to meet you,” Destiny said. “Sorry about attacking you. We kind of thought five guys were hunting us down for no apparent reason. Well, I mostly thought that."

“Yeahhh I guess we’re sorry, too,” Kai admitted.

Destiny flashed a smirk. “Soooo how long have you been looking for us?”

“Actually we just started looking tonight.” Cole crossed his arms. “I have to admit, you guys are pretty good.”

“Have you been trained before?” Zane asked.

“In a way, yeah,” Janet said. “You guys are pretty good, too. We weren’t expecting elementals, though. We thought we were the only ones who had them.”

“You must’ve been living under a rock, then,” Kai muttered. Seriously?!

Destiny strained to hold her tongue as Cole nudged Kai in the ribs.

“Come with us,” Zane said. “Our sensei would most like to meet you two.”

The girls followed us as we headed for our apartment, Destiny walking between Kai and Janet.

“I’m guessing you guys don’t live around here,” I said.

“No,” Destiny replied quietly. She fingered a pin of two intersecting crescents facing back to back. “We’ve . . . been on our own for a few years, and we kind of stumbled across this place.” So these two have been wandering around for years? Sounds pretty lonely. . . .

“You don’t have a home?” Cole asked.

“If you count an alleyway as one.” The guys and I exchanged looks of concern.

“You’re more than welcome to stay at our place,” Lloyd said.

The brunette smiled a bit. “That’d be nice.”

We came across our apartment and let the girls in first, and waiting for us inside was Sensei.

“I see that you have found them,” he said. “Was there any trouble?"

There was a mixture of yes’s and no’s, and Sensei just smirked at us.

“This is Janet,” Zane said, “and her sister is Destiny.”

Wu nodded. “It’s good to meet the both of you face to face.” Both girls looked to each other once again. “So who is the Gold Ninja?”

“That’d be me, I guess,” Janet replied.

“I uh, control water, sir,” Destiny said.

“The element of water. . . .” Sensei stroked his beard in thought. Your gears are turning, Sensei. I know they are.

Wu stood up. “The both of you will begin your training tomorrow. The boys will be teaching you.”

“What?” Kai blurted.

“Now, rest up. Tomorrow is a busy day for all of you and I expect you all to be up bright and early.”


	4. The Encounter

**Lloyd's POV**

I found myself staring up at the ceiling, and my first thoughts were of Janet and her sister.

Janet’s supposed to have a connection with me. How are we supposed to figure that out? And how come she can control the four elements? I thought I was the only one who could. And another thing—Uncle kind of acted weird when Destiny told him she had water. Maybe she’s not supposed to? And if she wasn’t supposed to, then what element does she have?

Groaning, I swung my legs over and dragged myself out of bed to get ready. After I was set to go I went for the kitchen, and the only one there was my dad.

“Hey, Dad,” I greeted.

He looked at me with a smile. “Morning, son.” I prepared a bowl of cereal before sitting down with him. “I heard about the new members you found yesterday. Quite the mystery, aren’t they?”

“Yeah. It’s pretty crazy. . . .” I stirred my food as I became lost in thought. “Do you think . . . Ninjago isn’t entirely safe now? I mean, we defeated the Overlord and saved everyone, but now Janet and Destiny are here. What else is there to fight?”

Dad looked out the window just as two birds flittered by. “Evil comes in many forms, whether it be in crime in the city or in something as ancient as the Overlord. No matter what, darkness is always lurking. We can only be watchful and remain sharp.

“Perhaps those girls aren’t signaling the coming of a new threat. Maybe they only came because destiny needed them to meet all of you.”

I kept my eyes on my cereal. “I guess you’re right, and maybe all we can do is be on the lookout. Thanks, Dad.” After I finished eating I gave him a quick hug before heading out the door to walk to Dareth's Dojo (which was surprising not destroyed after my battle with the Overlord). The guys were already inside along with Janet and Destiny. Sensei was there, too.

“Morning, Lloyd,” Janet said. 

“Uh hey!” I said. “So when do we start?”

“First we gotta see exactly how good these two are,” Cole said.

“What, yesterday didn’t count?” Destiny teased.

“Easy there, Destiny. First things first—hand-to-hand combat. Janet, you’re up!”

“And here I thought our days of training were over,” Kai said.

“Whether it is with ourselves or others, training never really ends,” Zane commented. “Something new can always be learned.”

“Wise words, Zane,” Uncle complimented. “One never truly stops learning.”

Janet got into her stance just as Destiny was sitting down, and the guys and I readied ourselves.

“Let’s see what you got,” Cole challenged.

Neither of us moved for the first few moments, but I did make eye contact with Zane. Janet’s eyes looked behind her, and she swiftly flipped to the side to avoid a punch. The rest of us quickly dove in, and she avoided nearly every move we threw at her. She was light and quick on her feet, returning our own punches and kicks without skipping a beat. It’s like she wasn’t even touching the ground!

Kai came in for a punch that Janet leaned left away from, and she spun around to kick him in the back. Jay got her wrist between her shoulder blades, but she slammed her foot down onto his within the next second.

“Ah-hah-ow!” he yelped.

I wove between the others as they kept her focus on them, and I was getting ready to pounce on top of her. But the second I made a grunt, however, she darted past me a lot quicker than normal.

On a current of air.

“Huh?”

“Lloyd behind you!” Kai exclaimed. Before I knew it I saw a blur of black, and that quickly became the only thing I saw.

 

 

My head was pounding as my consciousness was coming back, and my eyes were slow to focus on the scene before me. Janet had a shuriken and a scythe pointed at her while she was on the ground, and Kai and Jay were behind her with the former pointing a sword at her head.

“You have to be prepared for the unexpected,” Cole said. “That includes surprise weapons.”

“Heh, all right. I’ll remember that,” Janet said. The guys backed off to let her up, and she dusted herself off.

“W-what happened?” I asked, sitting up.

“I uh, kind of knocked you out cold. Sorry about that.”

I massaged my head. “You train rough.”

“Seriously,” Jay agreed. “I think you gave me a bruise everywhere.”

“You could still use a few pointers here and there,” Kai said.

I stood up a little unsteadily. “Didn’t think you could control air, too.”

“Wait. You control air, too? No wonder you were darting all over the place!” Cole marveled.

“You wouldn’t happen to control water as well, would you?” Zane asked.

I glanced over to Sensei and tuned out the conversation. Something in his eyes told me he was uneasy, and he had a sort of dread to him, too. But the look vanished before I could say anything. I’m starting to get some suspicious feelings about these two. But . . . maybe I’m just getting ahead of myself.

“So, I guess we could start with Destiny now.”

I turned my attention back to the others at Kai’s voice, and Janet’s sister took her place as she stood off to the side.

“Same thing goes for you,” Cole said. “Expect every move possible.”

“The enemy will enact any move,” Zane added. “You must be prepared.”

 

**Cole’s POV**

Destiny nodded, and a few seconds after we got into position Kai came in with a sword. She narrowly avoided a high kick from Lloyd and leaned back to avoid a sword swing. Jay sent a flurry of punches that she also narrowly avoided, and she instinctively kicked back, nailing my thigh. That was a little too close for comfort.

Seconds later Kai swung at her once again, and she swooped under the swing and actually slapped his sword hand. And he dropped his sword. Genius, Kai. Genius.

“Ah! Hey!” Kai complained. He was quick to tackle her down during the few seconds Zane was keeping her occupied. “How do you like this?”

Then Destiny switched positions so she pinned Kai down, knocking Lloyd down in the process. “I can do the same thing you can, Spike.”

“Spike? Ha hah, nice one,” Jay said.

Kai fought back a glare. “I’m not done yet.” He pushed her off, and she dropped to the ground to avoid a shuriken before getting up again.

“Really? I thought you were,” Destiny taunted. If that isn’t friction I don’t know what is.

“Keep your head leveled,” Janet warned as Lloyd and Destiny exchanged a few punches.

Kai once again came up behind her, but this time she was expecting it. Or at least, she thought she was. She kicked back against air, but she did leap out of the way to let Jay get nailed with the same kick he had tried yesterday.

“Ah hah!” Kai, again, pinned her down, and this time her legs were held down. “Not so tough now, huh?”

The rest of us stayed on full alert for any tricks she might pull, but nothing really came. They just stared each other down for the longest time, and if looks could kill both of them would be dead.

Her eyes narrowed, and she was about to actually head-butt Kai when the door to the dojo burst open.

“There’s been a break-in at the museum!” Nya reported. “But I have to warn you that—”

“Don’t worry, Nya, we can handle it,” Jay said. Kai finally got off of Destiny as the rest of us slipped our masks on to head out, Lloyd being the first one out.

“Destiny, go with them,” Sensei said. Janet was about to come with us when he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Not you, Janet. Not yet.” She seemed just about ready to protest, but she restrained herself.

“All right, Water Girl, let’s see how you handle this,” Kai challenged, and the rest of us headed out.

“Guys I really think you should—”

“ ‘Water Girl’?! Oh you’re on!” Destiny said, cutting Nya off.

The six of us now outside, the Ultra Dragon was just landing nearby, and Destiny stopped right in her tracks.

“That’s a . . . that’s a dragon. That is a very big—”

“He’s not that bad once you get used to him,” Jay called as we were mounting up.

After composing herself Destiny ran to catch up with us, and Zane helped her situate herself. Nya was standing outside the dojo alongside Janet and Sensei as we took off, and Destiny gripped a random pair of shoulders as Lloyd directed the dragon to the museum.

“Wow! That’s a grip. . . .”

“Sorry, Jay. Just never ridden a dragon before,” she said sheepishly. “Or seen one, especially one with four heads.” It was nice seeing the city from up above. Heck, it was nice having a big mission for once.

“Ahhh, I miss riding this guy,” Kai said.

“It’s only been several weeks,” Zane commented.

“Where was this guy when we needed him up against you and your sister?”

“Oh shut up,” Destiny said, peering down below.

Eventually we came across the museum, and after we landed she was the first one to dismount the dragon. The museum’s director had a frantic expression as we met up with him.

“Oh good! You’re here,” he said. He glanced to Destiny. “Who is that?”

“Uh new recruit,” I replied. “So there was a robbery?”

“Yes. Right.” He started for the doors. “I’ve locked up every exit in the museum to keep the criminal inside. I’m not sure if he’s still in there, so be careful.” After unlocking the door he held it open for us, and the second Lloyd went in he shut the door.

“I guess it’s ‘one way in, one way out,’ huh?” Jay said.

“Okay here’s the plan,” I said. “We go in pairs. Zane and I will stay here while the rest of you try to lure the guy toward us. Lloyd, you’re with Jay, and Kai you’re with Destiny.”

“What?!” the last two exclaimed.

“You heard him,” Lloyd said. “Now come on!”

The others went off in different directions, and Kai and Destiny were already arguing.

“Was that really the wisest pairing?” Zane asked curiously.

“Ahhh it was on the fly,” I admitted. “Besides. Maybe those two might actually learn to work together.

 

**********Kai’s POV** ** ** ** **

I am _not_ going to learn to work with her. She’s been on my nerves ever since yesterday! I bet Cole did this on purpose.

I slipped behind a pillar while she stood in front of me. “All right, follow my lead. We can’t have you getting lost in here.”

“What, you think I have no idea what I’m doing?” she hissed.

“Of course not!”

“Then why are you such a jer—”

“Shh!” I clamped my hand over her mouth upon hearing footsteps, ignoring her muffled scoff. The steps were calm, unhurried. Maybe the guy’s not even concerned about us. Well he should be.

“I know you’re here,” a raspy voice called out. “There’s no point in hiding, Ninjas.”

Destiny yanked my hand away and gestured with her eyes to the guy.

“Don’t even think about it,” I hissed, but she ended up rolling her eyes before walking right out into the open. Are you _kidding me?_

“Theeeere’s one! Now where are the others?” the guy sing-songed.

“It’s just me,” she spat. I was about to march out there when I heard him walk toward her, and all I apparently could do was watch her walk to him. Even I’m not that hasty! “There’s nowhere to run. Every exit is blocked.” They both stopped.

“You must’ve been let in, so that means there’s actually one exit.” I heard a pair of feet shift positions.

“You want out? You have to go through me.”

“I have nothing in my hands.”

“Your pockets.”

“Not a single item.” More feet shifted as I saw Jay and Lloyd flash by.

“. . . Then why are you here?”

A slow and almost stalking gait echoed throughout the museum. “I’m looking for someone. Someone very important.”

“And who might that be?”

“Someone you might know. Maybe they’re even close to you.”

I had to sneak a peek from behind the pillar. Behind Destiny and well-hidden were Lloyd and Jay, and she had managed to get the culprit’s back to the door. Now that I could actually see the guy, I saw that he was dressed in an extremely dark purple from head to toe, and a hood was over his head. (Assuming this is a guy.)

“Mind giving me a little more of a hint?” she asked, irritated.

The guy took one slow step at a time toward her, and she stood on the offensive. “They’re very powerful, actually. Gold looks nice on them, too.” Gold looks nice on them. . . ?

Wait a second.

Destiny threw a punch at him that was caught effortlessly, but she kneed him hard before he could throw her fist back. But within seconds she was pinned down, and I could see his gloved hands tighten their grip on her wrists.

“I know you didn’t come alone!” he barked. “Ninjas never come alone!”

With a loud grunt she head-butt the guy and threw him off. She got up with a huff and balled her fists, glaring at him. At the same time the guys and I emerged from our hiding spots, and the four of us had the guy backed up against a wall. His glowing eyes were almost inhuman, and his gaze was livid.

“You’re right. Ninjas never come alone,” I said. “But it looks like you did.”

“And you’re not getting anywhere near Lloyd!” Jay added heatedly.

All the guy did was laugh lowly. “So you think.” The guy darted off towards the door, and the rest of us made chase.

“Zane! Cole! Get ready!” Lloyd shouted.

“Hey way to get him to spill the beans, Des,” Jay said as we ran. “Well kind of.”

“Des?” she repeated.

“Y’know like a nickname.”

“Heh. Yeah I know. . . .” She looked down for a brief moment. “Okay call me crazy, but I was getting some . . . vibes from him.”

“Vibes?” Lloyd asked.

“Like . . . he had something dark and powerful to him.” The boys and I exchanged looks.

“Maybe that’s what Nya was trying to tell us at the dojo,” I said.

“We reeeeally gotta stop rushing into things,” Lloyd said.

Two cries of pain from up ahead brought our attention forward, and we picked up the pace. We soon came across both Zane and Cole struggling to get up, and the doors were wide open.

“What happened?”

“Augh, he was so fast! Inhumanly fast!” Cole said as I helped him up.

“I sensed something foreboding about him, and it was almost intoxicating,” Zane said as Jay helped him up.

“I guess Destiny was right about that dark vibe,” I said.

“We have to catch that guy,” she stressed.

“Who just happens to be after Lloyd,” Jay said. “I mean who isn’t?”

Lloyd gave him a flat look.

“Hey I’m just stating the facts.”

“But he also could be after my sister,” Destiny said. A shadow of dread settled over us.

“We better head back and tell Sensei about this,” I said. “Looks like our evil just came out of the shadows.”


	5. Beneath the Surface

**Zane's POV**

We had agreed to gather at our dining room to share the information we had obtained, and it was proving to be very troublesome news.

“Inhuman, you say?” Garmadon asked, musing upon the statement.

“Seems to me that the Overlord’s returned,” my father said.

“And this is why you guys need to slow down before you rush into things,” Nya reprimanded.

“Eh heh,” Jay squeaked sheepishly.

“Everything seems to be pointing to the Overlord’s return,” Lloyd said. “Even if it were him, he’d have to be regenerating. I’m pretty sure I did more than a number on him during our Final Battle.”

“So we should take him out now while he’s weak,” Kai suggested.

“This is the _Overlord_ we’re talking about here,” Cole said. “We have to think this through before we jump in head first.”

“And not to mention the new recruits still have a long way to go,” Jay added, to which Destiny crossed her arms.

“I’m assuming the plan is to be on the lookout and continue training Destiny and Janet?” I asked.

“Your father and I will keep you guys updated for any more suspicious activity,” Nya said.

“And I’ll see if I can find anything more about the connection Janet and Lloyd have,” Misako said. “It may help us against the Overlord.” Both Janet and Lloyd exchanged looks.

“It is decided,” Sensei concluded. “Destiny and Janet, your training will continue. The rest of us will prepare for whatever the Overlord has in store for us.”

“Yes, Sensei,” my brothers and I said.

“All right, back to work, guys,” Cole said as the others dispersed.

“Just a moment,” Sensei called to us. “Destiny, there are some things I wish to speak to you about.”

“Uh sure,” she replied.

“The rest of you are dismissed.”

 

**Sensei's POV**

Once everyone had gone, Destiny looked to me.

“Now, there’s the matter of your elemental power,” I said.

“Right. . . .” She cleared her throat. “So um, I’m guessing I’m a water ninja?”

“Well um, not exactly.”

She skeptically turned her head a bit. “What do you mean ‘not exactly’?” This is not going well.

“Let’s, um, not get to that yet.”

Her skepticism increased, and I cleared my throat as I sat down. “Can you tell me about your parents?”

“M-my parents?”

“If you can.”

Destiny hesitated before taking a seat. “. . . My dad was the one who trained my sister and me. He’s trained us ever since we can remember. Almost everything we know is from him.”

“So you are familiar with the ways of the Ninja.”

“Actually, my dad _was_ a ninja. Just . . . not the type that has elementals.” Her fingers drifted to her pin. “Janet and I . . . we were told we were the only ones with elementals. It was a gift we had.”

“And no one knew of this?”

“No one except our parents. . . .”

“I see. . . .” Something is most certainly off. A piece of the puzzle is still missing, but perhaps that may be because it doesn’t want to be found yet. . . .

“So! You said I wasn’t exactly a water ninja.”

“Uh yes. Yes that is correct.”

“So then how can I control water?”

“Because you are the um. . . .” _Use her belt._ “Silver ninja of. . . .” _Now something similar to water._ “The tides. Yes, the tides. You are the Silver Ninja of the Tides, and—”

Her pin glowed immensely, forcing us to shield our eyes as the silver light quickly grew. Once it subsided, the both of us found that her black suit was now metallic silver. Her shoulder pad armor matched her suit and resembled wings. On the hems of her sleeves and pants were aqua waves. Her belt was also aqua, and two ocean blue straps crossed over her torso. Keeping the straps together was her pin.

Destiny shot out of her chair. “What the—how did I get this?!”

I mentally shook myself out of bewilderment. “I . . . don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?! Was I wearing this the whole time?!”

“It . . . would appear that way.”

She plastered a hand to her forehead in shock as I tried to make sense of it all. These sisters are proving more and more mysterious with every passing day.

 

****Lloyd’s POV** **

I locked hilts with her as she kicked Zane back. As she bit back a grunt, I pushed against her, but she pushed right back with as much force as I did.

“I’m not sure who trains harder—you or Des,” Jay said.

“We had a tough teacher,” Janet said, and she shoved me back before ducking a scythe swing.

“Who was your teacher?” Zane asked.

She leaned back from a punch from Kai. “My dad.”

“Did he teach anyone else?”

“Nope. Just Des and me.”

“He didn’t happen to be a Ninja, did he?” Jay asked.

“In a way. . . .”

“That would explain a few things,” Cole commented.

“Hey uh guys? I have a class in ten minutes so—AH!” Dareth narrowly avoided a deflected shuriken and shot back into the room he came out of.

Janet and Jay gradually became as fast as lightning the longer they went at each other, but Kai swiped his leg under her from behind. Reflexively she shot lightning at Cole, who staggered back several steps as the shock traveled through him.

“Hah! Quite the shock you got there, huh, Cole?” Jay teased.

“T-that’s—n-not—h-helping!” Cole stammered. The second Janet was on her feet, the guys and I had her surrounded.

“Wooahh wait a second,” Dareth said. “Who’s the new black ninja?”

Zane and Jay bolted forward to get the jump on her, but she jumped up with a burst of air and let them collide into each other.

She blindly landed on the flat part of one of my swords, and she kept her balance for a few seconds before flipping back and nearly grazing my chin with her foot. “It’s Janet.”

The top of Cole’s scythe was centimeters away from her back, and a mischievous glint flashed in her eyes before he hopped away with a flaming foot.

“Seriously?! Why am I the only one getting hit by her powers?” he yelped.

“ ‘Be prepared for the unexpected,’ Cole,” she quoted as she kept going.

“Somebody learns fast,” Kai complimented with a smirk.

The door to the dojo opened, and Destiny walked in with—oh hey she has her suit!

“Glad you could join us,” I called.

“Nice suit, Des!” Jay said before he was nearly knocked unconscious. Kai ducked down from a punch from Janet, and one look at Destiny plainly said he was smitten.

“Kai watch out!” Zane warned, but it was a second too late. Janet blasted him back with air and sent him face first into the punching bag.

“Heh. Looks like Kai’s out.”

Destiny almost got the jump on Cole with a ball of water, but he managed to block it much like last time.

“Thought you could catch me off guard, huh?” he said. “Let’s see what you got!”

 

**Cole’s POV**

Des rolled forward from another shuriken and was almost electrocuted by a stream of lightning. Janet nearly kicked the back of my head but I swept under the kick to fire earth at her, which she deflected with a wall of ice.

Destiny, meanwhile, formed a water whip and made near hits on Zane, who deflected any hits that came too close. She quickly leaned back from Kai’s sword swing and countered him by aiming her whip at his feet.

“Hey! Watch it! Ah!” he yelped.

“Ice!”

The ice froze the water within seconds, and the water shattered onto the ground. Kai suddenly performed Spinjitzu, and Des unexpectedly surrounded herself with a rope of water and tackled him to the ground.

“How’s that?” she taunted.

“Not bad,” Kai complimented.

While those two were tousling it out, Janet blew Lloyd’s swords out of his hands with a gust of wind and darted behind him. My scythe was just out of reach from her, and before Jay could stop her Lloyd let out a yelp as she held a sword to his neck.

“You and your wind,” Lloyd mumbled, and the rest of us lowered our weapons and elements.

“You’ve both improved since yesterday,” Zane said.

“No kidding!” Jay said.

 

**Lloyd’s POV**

My eyes were glued to the TV screen as Jay’s character swiftly fought against mine.

“You and Destiny really have it out for each other,” I said over my shoulder.

“Yeah, talk about competitive,” Jay added.

“Well talk about Janet creaming _you_ ,” Kai fired back.

“She didn’t really ‘cream me,’ Kai,” I said.

“I totally got you, though,” Destiny added.

“You did not—I got _you!_ ” Kai argued.

“Hah. Let’s just call it even.” Sometimes I wonder why those two are so competitive.

“Two outta three tomorrow?” Janet asked me.

“He can take you with his hands behind his back,” Jay challenged.

“Oh can you now?”

“Totally.”

“Wait what?” I stammered.

“Hmph. All right, then.” I couldn’t help groaning. Really, Jay? I expected that from Cole!

As I focused back on the game, I could hear Kai and Destiny talking behind me.

“You’re not bad for a newbie, by the way,” Kai said.

“Oh really?” Destiny said.

“I mean you’ve obviously had experience before, and all.”

“Heh. More than you think.”

Jay nearly chopping a chunk off my health brought me back to the screen.

“That was lucky,” Janet commented.

“Yeah. Too lucky. I could’ve had more health than you!”

Once I had Jay on the run, I tuned in again to behind me.

“About what happened yesterday, and today,” Kai started. “Sorry for being such a jerk. I guess I was just—”

“Bitter?” Destiny finished.

“I was not!”

“Two mysterious people making it to the scene of the crime before you can? I would be.”

Kai stayed quiet. “All right all right. Maybe I _was_ a little upset.”

“Hmm.” They both stayed quiet for a bit. “You _are_ pretty strong. You just gotta work on that temper of yours.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”

“Aaaand dinner—is served,” Cole announced.

“Don’t tell me you cooked.”

He flashed Kai a look as Jay and I paused the game. “I’m going to pretend I’m not insulted and say no. Zane cooked. And made cake.”

“What’s so bad about Cole’s cooking?” Destiny asked. We couldn’t help laughing at that (except for Cole).

“Leeeet’s just say he’s still learning,” Nya said. “A lot.” After Zane placed the chicken on the table everyone took their seats. Cole and I decided to let Janet and Destiny have our seats, which placed them between Kai and Zane.

“So, anything on the Overlord?” Kai asked as we served ourselves.

“We haven’t seen any sign of him,” Dr. Julien said from the kitchen island. “Maybe he’s deciding to show up once every day. After all he does need to regenerate.”

“This guy’s out for revenge and we all know it,” Jay said before taking a bite of mashed potatoes.

“Who’s the Overlord, again?” Destiny asked.

“The Overlord is an ancient being of pure evil. Pure darkness,” Dad explained. “He tried to take over Ninjago not so long ago, and it was because of me. If I hadn’t been so focused on turning Ninjago into my own image, maybe he wouldn’t have been able to cross over.”

A heavy mood settled over the table, sticking to the inside of us as we remembered the Final Battle and the events that occurred on the Dark Island.

“Those events are in the past, brother,” Uncle said. “What matters is what happens now, in the present.”

“Um, on another note, this is the best chicken I’ve ever had,” Destiny said. Everyone was quick to agree.

“Thank you,” Zane replied.

As dinner went on, Destiny kept casually looking at the clock. It’s probably none of my business, but I can’t help wondering what’s going on in her head. . . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not one of my strongest chapters but I think it's okay.


	6. A Midnight Lesson

**Janet’s POV**

Once everything was put away Des went down the hall while the boys shot for the couch, Nya calmly following after the adults. After a few moments of lingering by the kitchen, I followed her down the hall and managed to catch her slip into the room we were sharing with Nya. I waited in the hallway and heard clothes rustling before appearing in the doorway. Des was holding up her suit and studying it intently, and I managed to see the silhouette of a wolf’s head on the back. Eventually I knocked on the door.

She looked up from her ninja suit. “Hey, Janet. I’ll be out there in a minute, okay?”

I stepped into the room and closed the door. "What's up?"

She was quiet for a few seconds too long, and I placed a hand on my hip. "I'm fine, Janet.”

"You were looking at the clock constantly.”

“I just. . . .” Her eyes flickered back to the suit.

“It’s the suit, isn’t it?”

Des fingered one of the shoulder pads. “It used to be the black suit Mom gave me. Then it just changed into _this_ ,” she shook the suit, “when Wu said what Ninja I was. Do you know what that means?”

“You were walking around with it ever since you got it.”

She looked to her suit again before placing it over the footboard, the armor being placed on a far corner of the bed. “You think . . . they knew about it?"

"Who?"

“Mom and Dad.”

“Well we can’t ask them. They’re gone.”

Des stayed quiet as she sunk into the bed. “. . . What if they had elementals, like us?”

“Then why wouldn’t they have told us?”

She plopped her back onto the bed. “Ugh, we’ll never know if they knew about my suit.”

“Wu might know.”

“But he didn’t tell me when I asked him if I was a water ninja.”

My eyes flickered to the suit. “Look. Let’s just—”

_Knock knock knock._

“Hey, uh, you guys okay?”

Both of us widened our eyes.

“We’re fine, Nya,” Des called.

“Sooo can I come in?”

I looked to Des.

“Uh sure.”

Nya opened the door, and the boys’ competitive shouts could be heard from down the hall. She glanced to each of us briefly. “Am I intruding on anything?”

“No no you’re fine,” I said. “Just . . . trying to sort things out.”

“I might be of some help if you want to talk about it.”

“Not sure if you’d know anything about suits that change looks,” Des said. “Or people having the answers that you really wanna know and not saying anything.”

“Well, being around Sensei Wu can be . . . a little confusing, maybe even frustrating. I know I haven’t fully understood his ways. But I do know that he wants each of you to learn and grow as much as possible. He may not tell you everything, but he wants what’s best for you. All you have to do is trust him.”

Des frowned a little. “I guess you’re right. Thanks, Nya.”

“No problem!” she replied kindly.

 

 

**********Destiny's POV**  ** ** ** **

_Overlord._

_An ancient evil of pure darkness._

_And he’s after my sister._

I restlessly turned to face the window. The minute they found us and took us in he appears (again, apparently), and now he’s after her. And not just her—Lloyd, too. But I’m more worried about Janet. Ugh I knew we should’ve just left them. Why did I even give them a chance?!

_Because they were our kind._

I squeezed my eyes shut, my last image being of the moonlight streaming in through the window. Anxiety began to fester inside me, and the near silence was becoming deafening. _"_

_"Trust him.” Pfft. He’s the one I trust the least._

When I opened my eyes, they fell upon the moonlight again. The energy I was beginning to feel was growing to be a weight on my body, and I couldn’t take much more of it.

I drowsily sat up and ran a hand through my hair with a sigh. Getting up, I grabbed my suit and slipped it over my clothes. As I loosely tied my hair back I glanced over to my sister and Nya, who were both still asleep. I stealthily made my way to the window as I pulled my hood on, halting in my place when Nya shifted positions. Quietly exhaling, I cautiously approached the window.

_All right. Let’s make this quick._

“What are you doing?”

I stifled a gasp as I registered a hand barely touching my wrist, and I looked behind me to see Janet. “Nothing,” I whispered. “Go back to sleep.”

“You have on your suit, Des.”

My eyes lingered on her for a bit before I sighed and pulled my hood back. “I’m just going to do something for a minute. I’ll be back.”

Janet looked me in the eye, and I fought the urge to look away. “I’m coming with you.”

I blinked. “Y-you’re what?”

“You heard me.”

“No, you’re not. You’re staying here.”

“No, I’m not. I’m coming with you, and you’re not stopping me.”

I was about to protest again when she turned around to head back to the bed we shared. She was swift and silent as she slipped her still normal suit on, and I glanced nervously to Nya every now and then. Once Janet was done both of us pulled our masks on and snuck out the window, and we landed outside almost inaudibly.

“Why were you sneaking out?”

“Because . . . I was . . . going to um . . . scout the city?”

My sister raised an eyebrow. “Old habits die hard?”

“Yes. Totally.”

She sighed. “All right let’s go.”

The two of us moved like the wind from rooftop to rooftop. I should’ve just snuck out another window. Ugh why is she so stubborn?

“You’re not gonna go back to our old spot, are you?” Janet asked.

“No,” I plainly answered. “I’m just . . . antsy.”

I kept my eyes forward without another word, and I focused on our surroundings. The city was eerily quiet, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being watched.

“You’re not telling me something, Destiny.”

“I’m fine, Janet. There’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“Are you _still_ thinking about your suit?!”

“No! It’s just—”

Something dark darted off to our right, and we stopped in our tracks. My hand flew to Janet’s arm as I listened for anything out of the ordinary, but all I heard was a dog barking and several crickets.

I felt two light taps on my shoulder from behind, and, startled, I elbowed a body before Janet and I leapt to a roof to face the enemy head on. My eyes scanned the area attentively, but there was no one in sight. All right who tapped me?

Two feet landed behind us, and we whipped around to see a figure straightening up. A spark of fear welled up inside, but I forced it down and reinforced my stance. The figure just stood there, and I felt his eyes analyzing the both of us. The longer we stood there the tenser my muscles got. Any longer and my bones are going to snap.

Casually, he clasped his hands behind him, and I hastily sent a water whip at him. He flipped over it, and my sister and I charged toward him. We threw punches, kicks, even a few elements, but he evaded every single one.

And he didn’t lift a finger.

Suddenly he disappeared, and Janet and I gradually regrouped.

“Stay close to me,” I breathed.

“I can handle myself,” Janet scolded.

I felt two taps on my shoulder, and I whirled around with another water whip only to get Janet’s arm.

“Ow! Hey!”

“Why’d you tap me?! You scared me!”

“I didn’t tap you!”

The figure popped up behind Janet, and I gasped right as she whirled around to see no one there. I felt a presence behind me, and I threw a punch that he evaded. As I attacked him I felt a gust of wind from behind, and Janet landed behind the figure. I hastily sent another water whip at his gut that he leapt to the side away from, and I got Janet once again.

“Ow! Focus, Des!”

“If he would just _stay still_ it’d be easier!” I snapped. We continued to throw as much as we could at him, but he dodged every—single—one! “Oh that’s it!”

I got a quick running start before leaping forward in a flying kick, but he simply stepped to the side to let me fly off the roof. I crashed onto the ground with a roll, and seconds later I caught Janet falling off the roof, onto a dumpster, and onto the ground.

And she didn’t move.

“Janet!”

The figure landed on the ground as I pushed myself up.

“You’re not getting anywhere near my sister, Overlord.” Running toward him, I readied a water whip and had it surround me, and he just stood there. One move let to the next, and I suddenly lost all feeling.

 

 

******Janet's POV**  ** **

My whole body felt groggy and slow. The black in my vision sluggishly crept away, and the first thing I saw was the floor. It felt coarse and bumpy, and it felt a lot like concrete.

Raising my head, I found that there was a wall to my right and someone’s back against mine. My brain registered something keeping my ankles together, and I found that they were ropes.

_Ropes. . . ._

I snapped into full alertness, and I looked down to see more ropes around me. I wiggled around for a bit before I looked over my shoulder. A mess of brown hair was all I could see, and in the small patch of moonlight that was streaming in I could see a silver pant leg.

“Des. _Des_ ,” I hissed.

No response.

“Destiny!”

She was out cold. _All right, think. You can get out of this._

I looked at my hand and rolled my wrist a bit. Once it was as far from my body as possible, I concentrated and produced a small flame.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

I snapped my hand shut, and I scanned my eyes for the source of the voice. I caught a silhouette in the shadows in front of me, and I squinted at it. The figure calmly stepped into a patch of light from a lamppost, and he revealed himself to be. . . .

“Garmadon?”

The man crossed his arms. “Going after the Overlord alone is _not_ the wisest move. It’s reckless and dangerous.”

“We weren’t going after the Overlord! Des and I were—” Wait a second. Was she. . . ?

“If I had actually been him neither of you would’ve stood a chance. He would’ve taken you and your sister down without hesitation and used you for whatever purpose he had in store for you.”

I resisted the urge to glare at Des. “How did you know we left?”

“I heard you.”

I straightened up a bit. “We were just—”

“You may have experience with manual combat but both of you are still inexperienced with your elemental powers. Both of you could’ve gotten yourselves hurt. Or worse.”

My nails dug into my hands.

“What were you trying to prove?”

“I wasn’t the one who was trying to prove anything.”

“Weren’t you?”

“No. I wasn’t.”

Garmadon’s eyes looked behind me before setting his stern eyes back on me. “Then that leaves your sister. Apparently she decided to take matters into her own hands. And yet she didn’t tell you. . . .”

Suddenly Des began to stir from behind me. And speaking of. . . . “Ugh . . . Janet?”

“I’m here, Des,” I said. “I’m okay.”

My sister sighed in relief. “I thought I lost you.”

Anger threatened to flare up in me, and I opened my mouth only for Garmadon to shake his head.

“Destiny. Nice of you to join us,” he said.

Her mind went on full alert, and she looked down at the ropes before seeing him walk to our side. “What?! Garmadon?!”

“You thought you could do it alone, didn’t you?”

“Do what alone?”

“You know what.”

I could barely see a flash of guilt pass over her as she figured out the situation.

“Pulling something like this can get you into more trouble than you can handle, especially if you do it alone. You won’t help anyone by doing that.”

Des looked to the ground as I made eye contact with his dark gray eyes. She sighed in defeat. “All right. I’m sorry. I won’t do something like this again.”

“Neither will Janet. And next time there may not be a chance like this. Understood?”

Both of us muttered agreements, and he seemed relieved with our answer. Then he finally came to untie the rope keeping us together.

“Let this be a lesson to the both of you.”

Once the ropes were off we untied the bounds on our ankles and stood up.

“Now come. I suggest we head back before anyone finds out we’re gone.” He led us out of the alleyway and onto the path of the apartment. “I’m getting the feeling that you don’t fully trust us, and I don’t blame you for that. Life on the streets can’t be easy.”

“It’s not just that. It’s. . . .” I tried to put the words together, but Garmadon gave the impression that he understood.

“Some things in one’s past can be hard to move on from. I know that with mine, it’s nearly impossible with the things I’ve done. But I’ve learned that you can’t let the past affect your future, or even your present. You must learn to face the present without letting the past affect it.

“Therefore I am asking you to learn to trust us. It may not be easy, but I know that you will find something valuable in trusting the others.”

My sister and I looked to each other, and we made a silent agreement between us. “Yes, sensei.”

All three of us nearly stopped in our tracks. The response was involuntary, and the strange thing was, it felt natural.

“Sorry. It’s um, a force of habit,” Des said with a touch of embarrassment.

Garmadon said not a word. In fact he seemed pretty amused by the reply. “Let’s keep the events of tonight between us. For the time being.”

“What about what you said?” I said.

“I know what I said, but what I said doesn’t mean that everyone knows everything about each other.”

I couldn’t help smirking at that.

“If you say so,” Des muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one of my favorite chapters. Garmadon's so much fun to write! And kinda easy. At least for me.


	7. The Path to the Enemy

**Jay's POV**

The next day we woke up bright and early to get ready for another day with Janet and Des. Those two need to be at their peak if we’re going up against the big bad Overlord again. And can’t this guy stay dead?!

By the time I got to the dojo, Janet was already there with the rest of the guys. Sensei was there, too, and Garmadon had decided to pop in today. Janet was in the dead center of a circle of candles with her eyes closed and a fist against her palm, and the rest of the guys were watching her.

“Picture the candles lighting up,” Kai instructed. “Harness that flame.”

Almost immediately the candles flickered to life. Hah. Talk about déjà vu!

“All right now open your eyes and hold it.”

The candles wavered the tiniest bit when she opened her eyes, but she managed to keep the flames going.

“Now Lloyd,” Sensei started. “Search for a connection in the fire. Reach out to it. You too, Janet.”

Lloyd stood in front of the candle she was directly in front of and placed a fist against his palm, closing his eyes. “How are we supposed to know when we have the link?”

“You’ll know,” Garmadon replied. As I stood next to Cole, the door opened behind me.

“Destiny. You’re late,” Sensei said.

Kai widened his eyes briefly and “casually” crossed his arms before leaning against the punching bag, but he ended up falling.

Des blinked at the notion. “Uhh, sorry, sensei.” She stiffly bowed a little before standing off to the side. Suddenly the candles grew brighter, and a spark of green flashed inside the flames.

“Almost got it. . . .” Cole said.

“Focus,” Garmadon said. “Find the link.”

Lloyd opened his eyes and focused on the candle in front of him. “I think I . . . got it. . . .”

Suddenly the flames shot up, and the force knocked everyone back.

“Ease up, you two!” Kai yelped. “You’re gonna burn the whole place down!”

“You need to cooperate with each other!” Zane said.

“We are cooperating!” Lloyd and Janet snapped.

“Well cooperate harder!” Kai said.

“This was your idea!” Janet retorted as Lloyd and she hurriedly got to their feet. They held their hands out toward the fire to control it, but it kept grazing the roof. If we burn this place down Dareth’s gonna kill us!

Finally Des doused the flames, and everyone breathed sighs of relief.

“Perhaps we should’ve started with something a little less hot,” Zane said.

“Hey, at least the dojo’s still in one piece,” I said.”

Lloyd looked up. “Uhh. . . .” The rest of us followed his gaze to see scorch marks on the roof.

“Mayyybe this wasn’t the best one to start with,” Kai admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

“Change of plans?”

“Uh groups?” I suggested.

“That might be more effective,” Zane said.

“All right," Cole said. "Lloyd, Jay, and I are with Janet while—”

“Zane and I handle Destiny,” Kai finished, to which Des gave him a raised eyebrow. “Y-y’know ‘cause fire’s like water. Kind of. Maybe. . . . Not so much.” He totally has the hots for her, doesn’t he?

 

**Zane's POV**

After we set the candles back where they were we split into the suggested groups.

“I’m not quite sure how this is going to work since we’ve never encountered someone who controls water before,” I said. “But since Kai volunteered I think he might have an idea on how this is going to go.”

“Pfft. Of course I do,” Kai bragged. Then realization dawned upon him. “Wait. How can I—”

“You said so yourself. Fire is like water, even though they are entirely opposite elements. And we all know how well Kai’s first lesson went.”

“Hey!”

Destiny couldn’t help laughing a little at that. “And I’m pretty sure you know how to be serene and everything.”

“Oh trust me. I can be serene, all right.”

“You do know _serene_ means calm, right Kai?” I asked.

Ignoring my remark, he spread his feet apart, and Destiny and I did the same. “First things first. Get some water.”

Destiny shot him an unamused expression before summoning a ball of water.

“Now watch me. Or, both of us. Just keep your eyes on me if you want to get it right.”

“Are you picking on Zane?”

“I believe he is trying to imp—”

“And go!” Kai blurted, interrupting me. We moved our arms as if we were moving the water, slowly yet smoothly.

“Firm stance, Janet. Keep that stance,” Cole instructed from the other side of the room.

“Sooo, you think you can take me one on one?”

“I know I can,” Destiny replied confidently. I can see why the two of them often clash.

“Weave the water around Kai,” I said. “Remember that your element is an extension of you.”

“Got it.” She slowly moved the water between Kai and me, but she hesitated. The water threatened to drop, but she kept it in the air. “Question—who’s the Nindroid, again?”

“That would be me.”

She gave me a look of shock, and her water splashed onto the ground.

“He’s waterproof, by the way,” Kai added.

“Well you could’ve said that _before_ my concentration broke.”

An audible _smack_ rang out, and we all looked to see Cole and Jay sliding down from an earthen wall. Lloyd quickly came up behind Janet, but she whirled around and swung him into the wall.

“Hah. Way to eat the dirt, Lloyd,” Jay teased.

"Hey she’s pretty strong," Cole complimented as Lloyd and he got up, the Green Ninja rubbing the back of his head. "Now can you handle _my_ strength?"

“Try again,” Sensei said to Destiny. “But this time maintain your focus.”

She nodded and summoned more water to soak Kai.

“Hey! He meant to maintain your focus in _moving_ it. Not wetting me!”

The room was quick to erupt in laughter. But Janet (after laughing), took advantage of the distraction and launched Cole into the air with wind before using the wind again to slam him into the ground.

"That was easy," she said. "Two outta three?"

Cole grunted with slight irritation. “I wasn’t ready!”

“Come on, Lloyd. I bet you might last a little longer than he did. And you owe me.”

The Green Ninja laughed nervously. “Right. That. . . .”

“Well at least it’ll be better than getting wet,” Kai mumbled. The rest of us gave them room to spar as they faced one another, and Jay was the one who tied Lloyd’s hands behind him.

“Ninjaaa-GO!" Jay said.

 

**Kai's POV**

As the two of them circled each other, they eyed one another, and Janet was giving Lloyd a pretty intense look. Suddenly Lloyd performed Spinjitzu, but Janet rolled to the side to avoid it. Lightning shot out of the tornado only for her to deflect it with an icy wall. The ice shattered upon impact and forced her back a few steps as Lloyd stopped spinning. Nonetheless, she got back in there and threw numerous punches that he dodged. Finally he swung his leg at her side and knocked her down.

"Ha _ha!_ " Lloyd cheered.

She swiftly flipped to her feet upon using air, and she knocked Lloyd over in the process. He remained on the ground for a few moments, but once he was up she punched his gut and kneed him.

"Ooohh," most of us chorused.

Lloyd fell down to his knees and onto his side, and she pinned him down securely.

"Pretty good for someone with their hands tied behind their back," Janet said.

“Gold Ninja wins this round!” Cole said.

She untied Lloyd’s hands and helped him up. While everyone was in conversation, Zane was looking towards the door.

“What’s up?” I asked him.

“I sense a familiar energy nearby,” he said.

“Energy? What kind of energy?”

“I feel it, too,” Sensei said. A dark object appeared by the window, and Zane opened the door for his falcon.

“Is that a. . . .” Des started.

“Zane’s falcon,” Jay said. “Also a robot.”

The Nindroid held his arm out for the bird. “What have you found, my friend?”

The falcon cawed twice and flapped his wings urgently, and his owner stepped outside. Once he did, the falcon took off, and Zane looked to us.

“Where’d it go?” Janet asked.

“Only one way to find out,” I said as I pulled my mask down. “Zane, lead the way.”

The rest of us pulled our hoods down as we followed our friend and the mechanical bird. I heard Sensei try to say something, but I didn’t really pay any attention to it.

“You think it’s found the Overlord?” Lloyd asked.

“If that guy’s still regenerating, and if the falcon’s actually found him, then why show up now?” Cole asked.

“My thoughts exactly, Cole,” Zane agreed. “My guess is that he must be near completion.”

“Ohhh I am in no way ready to see his dragon form again!” Jay groaned.

“Dragon form?” Destiny asked.

“A giant, creepy dragon of _pure evil!_ ”

“Oh boy. . . .” Janet groaned.

The falcon cawed again, and we looked to see that we had arrived outside the city. We stopped in our tracks in confusion.

“Oh look. He’s lured us out of the city,” Jay said. Aaaand here it comes. “Perfect! Now he can just pick us off the face of Ninjago _without anyone knowing about it!_ ”

“Out of the city, and out of the reach of our allies,” Zane concluded.

“We can handle him,” Janet said, and we assumed our stances.

“We stick together,” Lloyd said. “Be ready for anything.”

“Look! Over there!” Cole shouted.

“Where?!” Jay exclaimed. Something dark sped off at the edge of my vision, and I gripped my Fire Sword tighter.

“No he’s over there!” I objected.

“How can he be in two places at once?” Destiny asked.

Someone landed behind us, and we whirled around to see the Overlord standing there. He hadn’t changed much, but his eyes were . . . different. Creepy, different.

“All of you are here. Perfect,” he said.


	8. Newfound Power

**Lloyd's POV**

“What do you want with Lloyd and Janet?” Cole demanded.

“I didn’t say I wanted them both,” the Overlord said. “ _You_ just have to figure out who it is you need to protect.” The group exchanged looks. “Either way, I’m getting what I want.”

“Not if we have a say in it,” Kai snapped.

“Ninjaaa-GO!” the guys and I shouted. Our tornadoes charged after the Overlord, and behind me I could hear Janet and Destiny close by.

The Overlord was as quick as Zane and Cole said, and within seconds we were thrust out of our Spinjitzu. The girls darted past us, and the Overlord prepared himself.

“Be careful!” Kai warned.

Janet used the air to match him in swiftness, but Destiny was too slow for him. Before she could figure out what was happening she had her feet swept out from under her, and Kai was the first to attack.

“Fire!” he shouted, but the fire was easily evaded by the Overlord and nearly singed Janet’s head. The near hit enabled the Overlord to knee her and thrust her back, and rest of us joined in.

“Ice!”

“Lightning!”

“Earth!”

Every element was either accidentally blocked with another or evaded, but Destiny managed to make an opening for me to land a blow with my green powers. The Overlord flew into a telephone pole, and the impact made it tremble a bit.

“How fast is this guy?!” Cole exclaimed.

“Apparently faster than me!” Jay said. “And that’s saying something!”

The Overlord charged straight for Janet and me, and he was getting faster with every second. The guys and Destiny fired their elements at him, but he just tore through them.

“Our powers have no affect on him!” Zane exclaimed.

“He’s coming in hot!” Kai exclaimed as the others followed him toward the Overlord. I shot another blast of my powers at the same time Janet shot air at him, and the blow was enough to knock him down, even stun him.

“Ha hah!” Jay cheered.

_“Search for a connection. . . .”_   That’s it!

“Janet! I have an idea!” I called. “But we have to work together!”

“I’m all ears!” she exclaimed.

“We need to use our link!”

“Is that really the best idea? It’s still a work in progress.”

“He’s getting up!” Cole warned.

I looked to the Overlord struggling to get up, and I forced my attention back to Janet. “We have to try!”

“Trust him, Janet!” Destiny exclaimed.

Janet looked to her, and they had a quick but soundless exchange before she looked back at me. “Let’s do this.”

We faced a now standing Overlord and shot fire at him. Our elements intertwined, and my fire turned green the instant it met hers. We thrust back the Overlord a few feet, and we looked to each other in surprise.

“It’s working!” Cole cheered.

The two of us took another step forward, sending a stream of lightning at the Overlord and bringing him to his knees. He glared at Janet with a newfound hatred, but she was unfazed by the look. One more step hurtled the earth toward him, and another gave him chills.

The rest of the team stopped behind us as the Overlord shakily pushed himself up. Even in his current state, he still stood strong.

“I think you’re gonna have to think twice before messing with these two,” Kai said.

“Or all of us,” Destiny said.

The Overlord held his cold look with us, and I was starting to think he was gonna retreat.

But as he pulled himself to his full height, his body began to crack and twitch, a deep purple light surrounding his joints. What stood out the most was his eyes. They became more human, and now they were a sort of striking gray. All of us sounded noises of disgust as his hands cracked one more time upon balling up.

“I uh, guess he’s not done yet?” Jay asked meekly.

“He just got more powerful, didn’t he?” Destiny asked.

 

**Cole's POV**

The Overlord sped toward us, and together we shot after him. Janet was the first to get to him, and she coated her hand and forearm in earth before landing a solid punch. From the corner of my eye I saw Jay and Des fire their elements at him, and the Overlord evaded them only barely. I rolled out of the way of a punch and swept my leg to trip him, but he jumped over my head, dodged my sword, and narrowly avoided a blast of Lloyd’s green powers.

Suddenly Janet appeared next to me, and she was able to match his attacks with her own. Her elements started to come easier to her, and she thrust him back with air after he barely avoided blasts of water and fire. Her feet began sparking with gold as she picked up speed, and soon she was a whirlwind of gold streaked with the four elements and wind, gold sparks flickering up at the bottom.

"Hey, you got it!" I said.

The more hits we performed the slower the Overlord got, and soon we had him surrounded.

“There’s nowhere to run, Overlord,” Kai and Des retorted. Both of them looked to each other before looking away too quickly.

The Overlord’s eyes flickered to each of us, and just like that he bolted for the city.

“Hey!” Jay shouted.

We chased after him heatedly, but within a few twists and turns we had lost him.

“We . . . lost him. . . .” Kai said breathlessly.

“Did . . . anybody else . . . notice that he. . . .” I started. I placed my hands on my knees. “Just . . . gimme a minute. . . .”

“He became slower after he changed,” Zane said.

“Yeah. . . . That. . . .”

Jay plopped down onto the sidewalk. “So . . . the more he changes, the slower he gets?”

“It would appear that way,” Zane replied.

Kai slipped his hood off. “You did pretty good out there, Janet. You too, Des.”

Des’s face looked pretty flushed, and she jerked her hood back on. “Not bad yourself. . . .” Janet narrowed her eyes at Kai, who was oblivious to her.

Numerous footsteps sounded from behind us, and we looked to see Nya and the others running in. On Dr. Julien’s arm was the falcon.

“We came as soon as we could,” Nya said. “Everyone all right?” The rest of us excluding Des took our hoods off.

“We’re all right, and we think we may have a way of stopping the Overlord,” Lloyd explained. “Every time he changes his form, he doesn’t get stronger. He gets weaker!”

“So if we take him out now. . . .”

“We’ll be able to put a stop to whatever his plan might be,” Garmadon said. “Well done!”

“But if we’re going to catch him, we need to be ready to head out tonight. Who knows what the Overlord is planning?”

 

**3rd** **person** **POV**

His back rested against the strangely cold wall with his arms resting on his knees. The stench in the area was nauseating, and the murky water didn’t help, either.

_Those Ninjas_ are _as tough as I was told, especially the new ones._ Especially _the Gold Ninja._

The male could just hear what _he_ would say about all of this.

_“You are not—to disappoint me. You know the consequences for doing so.”_

The male knew what he had to do. He just hoped that his being was enough for the approaching moment.

Removing one glove, he examined his hand. Flesh was just beginning to form over his true element, making his hand look inflicted with disease. He inhaled sharply as more flesh began to grow. The combined might of the Green and Gold Ninjas was more than enough for the process, even if it did make things more excruciating than expected.

He slowly closed his hand and dug his nails into his skin. An inky purple substance began to ooze out from the burns he had received. It dripped onto the floor and collected together with every drop that was squeezed out. But he refused to utter any noises of pain or suffering, his head pounding with the stress he was enduring.

_"You only have one chance at succeeding. If you ruin this opportunity, you will pay."_

His insides mirrored the pain he was feeling on the outside, and he choked out a single grunt. His knuckles turned white the tighter he closed his hand. He wanted every single drop he could muster, and he wanted every single drop to count.

He abruptly opened his hand and let out a shaky breath.

_"If you don't want me to mess this up then why don't you do it yourself?"_

_"Because, you foolish boy, they'll be expecting that! You . . . they will not exxxpect."_

He knew what _he_ wanted. But he was going to exceed expectations.

Examining the dark substance, his mind began to turn its gears. The Silver Ninja was completely from left field, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be part of the plan. But she was surrounded by friends, new ones, by the looks of things. Maybe that might prove to be something he could use to his advantage. . . .

_“I have waited centuries for the Gold Ninja to be born. I have waited_ centuries _to smother the light that which the Ninja embodies. And now, the time has finally come!”_

_"I'm guessing if I fail you have other plans?"_

_"You_ will not _fail me! This has been a game that I have waited far too long to win!”_

_“Trust me. I won’t fail you.”_

And he was going to keep to his word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah man I love the chunk at the end. I'm so proud of it.


	9. Who is He?

**Sensei's POV**

“So the plan is to stick together,” Lloyd finished. “We’re stronger united.” Night had finally come and my pupils were preparing for their search of the Overlord.

“We’ll be your eye in the sky for any sign of the Overlord,” Nya said, the falcon cawing twice from Dr. Julien’s arm.

Cole led the Ninjas in pulling their masks down. “Let’s make sure this guy doesn’t come back again.” Janet harbored a fierce determination in her eyes, but she was not prepared for this. I couldn’t let her out there just yet.

“Janet, um why don’t you sit this one out?” I suggested. All of the Ninjas and Nya sounded exclamations of disbelief.

“Aw come on, Sensei, she’s ready for this!” Jay protested.

“And she has also unlocked Spinjitzu,” Zane added. Oh. That’s right. They’ve told me this.

“She has. . . .” I looked to each of them individually. All of them were eager for her to join them—all except for Destiny. Janet, however, seemed to be studying me alongside my brother. “I . . . suppose she is prepared for this.”

The boys and Nya cheered as the group dispersed to their positions, and I was left with Garmadon.

“That wasn’t the reason why you wanted to hold her back, was it?” he asked.

I sighed as I went to close the door. “No, it was not.”

“What are you keeping from them? And more importantly, what are you keeping from Janet?”

I let my hand ease away from the doorknob. “Let’s just say that the past is . . . difficult to put behind you.”

Garmadon remained silent as I turned around. “Which is leading you to distrust her.”

I walked to him. “Perhaps . . . I should consider—”

“Giving her a chance?”

“Giving her a chance.” _And perhaps she is not like him. . . ._

 

****Kai's POV** **

If the Overlord has gone to his next stage by now then this’ll be quick. So much for his ultimate return, huh?

“Anybody else thinking this is too easy?” Jay asked.

“I do,” Janet said after landing on a roof.

“If we split up we’ll make this even easier,” I said.

“Didn’t you hear what Lloyd said? ‘Stick together,’ ” Cole said. “If we’re taking the Overlord down, we’re taking him down together.”

“And if he’s as powerful as you guys say he is, then we’re staying with the plan,” Janet said.

All of us leapt to the next roof and continued on, and the falcon flew up ahead of us.

“Wait stop,” Zane warned, and we halted abruptly. “I sense . . . something out of place. . . .”

“Like what?” Lloyd asked.

Zane scanned the area while the rest of us kept our eyes out for anything suspicious. But night owls and a dog barking isn’t what you’d call “suspicious.”

The longer he stayed quiet the tenser we got, and Jay was already looking like he was going to scream.

“Why is it so quiet?” he asked in a whisper. “It only gets this quiet if we’re about to be ambushed.”

“Hey guys?”

All of us yelled at the top of our lungs at the voice, and Jay hopped up into the air only for Zane to catch him.

“It’s just me.”

We looked up to see the falcon hovering above us, leading Zane to drop Jay.

“Oh. It’s just you, Nya,” I sighed.

“I found something up ahead, and I think you guys might wanna make it quick,” she said.

We followed the falcon down the street and toward a pretty suspicious alleyway. The further we ran the darker and quieter everything became, and the air was beginning to have a negative feel to it.

“The unbalanced feeling seems to be increasing the farther we go,” Zane said.

“Think this might be it, boys,” Cole said.

“Ahem?!” the girls said.

“And, girls.”

The falcon landed on top of a dumpster, and slouched up against it was an unmoving figure. “He may not be the Overlord, but he does need our help. And by the looks of it he was probably in a fight with someone.”

Lloyd used his fire for a light as we approached the guy, and in the light, we could see numerous bruises along with a few burns. Something glittering on the base of his neck caught my eye. Squinting at it, I could see tiny little ice crystals slowly melting, and his arms had them, too. His dirty blonde hair was even a mess, like he was struck by lightning or something.

“We need to take him back with us,” Zane said. “Who knows how long he’s been like this?”

I felt a presence behind me, and I looked over my shoulder to see nothing there. But my gut was telling me otherwise.

I walked to a manhole to find it open just a tiny bit. “Hey. This hatch is open.” The others looked in my direction. “Maybe he came from here.”

“Why would he be in the sewers?” Nya asked.

“I dunno, but we found this guy in a midst of a weird energy Zane mentioned.”

“You think it’s a coincidence?” Des asked.

“Coincidence or not, we should at least help him out,” Lloyd said. Both Des and he took one of the guy’s arms before we walked back. Whoever this guy is or where he came from, I have a bad feeling about him.

“So he got into a fight, huh?” Cole said. “Must’ve been a fight with fire, by the looks of it.”

“He had ice on him a few seconds ago,” Janet said.

“You sure we didn’t fight this guy, Nya?” Jay asked.

“You would’ve told me about him. Or I would’ve figured it out,” she said.

“I dunno about you, but seeing this guy pop up out of nowhere with the stuff he has? That’s sounds suspicious to me,” I said as I crossed my arms.

"Other than a certain foreign air, I do not sense anything suspicious about him," Zane established. “Perhaps he has ties to the Overlord?”

“Maybe you guys are on to something,” Lloyd said, “but we shouldn’t jump to conclusions just yet.”

“And even if he does have a connection with the Overlord, why do all that to himself when he could just pick us off one by one?” Jay asked.

Everyone gave him a look.

“Oh I wouldn’t do that! Ugh seriously.”

“Let’s just get this guy back to our place and patch ‘em up. Then we’ll ask questions later,” Cole said.

When we got back, Garmadon and Sensei were still in the living room.

“Who is this?” Sensei asked when he looked at the darkly dressed victim.

“No idea,” Nya said. Des and Lloyd carefully placed the guy on the couch as the falcon flew to the study.

“Where did you find him?” Garmadon asked.

Suddenly the new blonde moaned, and our attention was brought to him. His eyes struggled to open, and the guys, Janet, and I looked to each other. Des, however, had her attention glued to him.

Gray eyes.


	10. Rising Tension

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so the chapter title may or may not be a pun to a song. Kudos to whoever guesses which song it is.

**Janet's POV**

“Can you tell us who you are?” Sensei asked as we removed our hoods.

The gray-eyed guy exhaled as his fists clenched. “. . . Blake. . . . Where am I?”

“A safe place.”

Blake’s eyes skimmed over all of us, but they lingered a little longer on Des. “You’re . . . you’re the ones who saved Ninjago from the Overlord.”

“Well, all of us except these two,” Jay said. “New recruits.”

“And technically Lloyd defeated the Overlord,” Zane added.

“Well it’s nice to meet all of you,” Blake replied.

Des strained to keep herself from pulling her hood back on. “Ahem, so, what happened to you?”

“I. . . .” He trailed off. “I can’t remember. Everything happened so fast. It was impossible to fight back. But I’m glad the heroes of Ninjago found me. I thought I was done for.”

“Well you’re safe now.” Garmadon looked to Misako coming in. “Those burns of yours will be taken care of. As for the _rest_ of you, I believe we have one more thing to take care of before we call it in tonight.”

While that blonde was being handled, the rest of us followed Lloyd’s dad and crowded into the study harboring Nya and Zane’s dad.

Kai came in last before closing the door. “All right, look—”

“Ssshhh!” almost everyone scolded.

“All right, look,” he repeated quieter than before. “That guy has to be the Overlord right there.”

“But his eyes are a _light_ gray. Not dark,” Cole objected. “And the guy’s calling himself Blake. Besides, we don't know much about him.”

"And we don't know for sure if it's him or not," I said. _Even though I have my suspicions. . . ._

"Even if Blake was associated with the Overlord, how would we know for sure?" Zane asked.

“We’ll have to look for clues,” Cole said.

“And we need to keep an eye on him as much as we can,” Lloyd added. “We can’t just leave him how he is now.”

“Uh, yeah we can. It’s called ‘This is our apartment and we’re kicking you out,’ ” Jay retorted, making Nya elbow him.

“My nephew is right,” Sensei said. “As high as our suspicions are, we can’t leave him out there in his current state. It would not be right.”

“But he could be the _enemy,_ Sensei. The _enemy!_ ”

“Ssshhh!” we all hissed, and Jay crossed his arms.

“May I remind you how to defeat you enemy?” Sensei said.

“Ugh, don’t tell me we have to befriend the Overlord,” Kai scoffed.

“Whether or not he is the Overlord, and whether or not he may have ties to him, turning him into a friend may be the best way to go about this,” Garmadon said. “Now all of you go get some rest.”

The guys mumbled complaints as they wormed out of the room with Misako, Nya, and Dr. Julien following behind them, but a gentle hand on my shoulder stopped me.

“There’s . . . something I’ve been meaning to tell you, Janet,” Wu said, and his brother glanced to us before leaving.

I turned to the younger brother. “Yeah?”

“I have a reason for holding you back.”

“You don’t trust me, do you?”

He nearly let his surprise come to his face. “No. I did not trust you.” He pulled a small chest out from underneath the desk, and inside was a gold ninja suit. “I refrained from giving this to you because I thought you were not ready. It turns out _I_ was the one who was not ready. I should have trusted you from the beginning, and for that I apologize.”

I picked up the suit to get a better look at it. It was a metallic gold with the armor being a darker shade. Like Des’s suit, there was a headpiece on the hood the color of the armor. Gray straps were on the sleeves and pants, and two more gray straps intersected over the torso. Holding those two together was a symbol in the center—a distorted figure that reminded me of a butterfly.

“As you already know, you are the Gold Ninja, a master of wind and the four elements. Many questions of you remain unanswered for the time being, as is the same for your sister. But I’m sure the answers will come when they are ready to present themselves.”

I locked eyes with him. He seemed pretty honest about this. . . . “Thank you . . . Sensei.”

 

**Blake's POV**

The Ninjas had already left the building for the morning, and as much as I would love to see what they’re up to, I’m stuck here.

Sighing, I sat up with difficulty to carefully unwrap some of the gauze on my arm. Whatever substance that woman used on me definitely healed most of my injuries.

“Looks like you’re up and at ‘em!”

I jumped and jerked around to see the old man with glasses pouring himself a glass of milk.

“Ooh. Didn’t mean to startle you. Eh how’d the night go?”

“Well. I was hoping to start moving today.”

“You sure? I heard you had some pretty bad injuries last night.”

“I’ll be all right.” I stood up. “So, any idea where those Ninjas might be?”

“Mmm probably training over at Dareth’s dojo. You know those youngsters—always have to be in tip-top shape!”

“Thanks.” I walked out the door and closed it with a sigh. A biting cold feeling spread all over my legs, but I ignored it as I started walking. Then the sensation spread to my arms almost stronger than before, making me clench my fists. I’m hoping that’s the last time I feel that.

As I walked, I couldn’t help but enjoy the comforting feeling of the sun on my skin. I enjoyed it so much that I almost missed the place. Backtracking, I looked into the window to see the Ninjas training, and the Gold Ninja now had her suit on. Well you can’t miss her now.

After fixing my hair I stepped inside only to avoid the end of a water whip just barely.

“You’re up! Already?” the Blue Ninja asked, and he bent back to avoid a sword from the Gold Ninja.

“Whatever ointment they put on me must’ve really worked.”

“Yeah, well, I suggest you head back outside,” the Red Ninja retorted. “The place is occupied.” Well somebody’s not too happy.

“I do happen to know a thing or two.”

“Oh really?”

“Could you guys focus a little?” the Green Ninja grunted, his wrist between his shoulder blades as courtesy to the gold one.

"How about after your session I take ooonn the Silver Ninja?"

“What?!” both the red and silver ones blurted.

Within seconds weapons were pointed at their targets, and the entire group was at a stand-still.

“This is new,” the White Ninja concluded, and the group eased off each other.

“By the way, I never got your names,” I said.

They hesitated.

“I don’t bite.”

They eventually introduced themselves with Destiny going last. Seeing that hint of anger in Kai’s eyes is very entertaining.

“Now, shall we, Silver Ninja?”

She was quick to refocus before assuming her position.

“You sure you want to be doing this?” Jay asked skeptically.

“I’ll be fine,” I said.

 

**Cole’s POV**

The two of them stood there for a couple seconds before Des whipped water at Blake's side, but he darted to the left before rolling forward to meet her in hand-to-hand combat. He threw a punch that she easily avoided, and she countered with a punch to his stomach that he simply hopped away from. She dropped down to swipe her leg under his, and she was about to elbow him down when he rolled to the left. Seconds after she hit the floor she flipped herself back up before going at it again with Blake.

“He’s not bad,” I said to Kai.

“I still think we should keep an eye on him," Kai said.

“Well if he’s trying to bring our guards down, he’s doing a number on Des.”

“Hmph. I’ll show him how to do a number on someone.”

I gave him a side glance. “Someone’s upset.”

"What? Pfft, I'm not upset. Upset of what, him? Ha. Don’t make me laugh."

I shrugged. “All right, if you say so.”

Swords clashing brought me back to the fight, and Blake was soon overpowering Des.

"I have to say, you're pretty good," Blake grunted.

Des flashed a smirk and slowly pushed him down, but he kicked her arm, kneed her stomach, and pinned her down all in one blur of movement. Both of them were breathing heavily.

"Well aren't you fresh," she remarked.

Blake got up and helped her stand, but she rolled to the side as Janet flew over his head and landed. Immediately she started throwing punches left and right almost as quickly as Jay. Before he knew it she kneed his gut hard, swung her heel onto the middle of his back, and forced his wrist between his shoulder blades.

"Wow, that hurt," Blake grunted. With a smirk Janet let him up.

"Pretty good for someone as patched up as you,” Kai said, his arms crossed.

"Thanks. I try," Blake said. "And these ladies here are in training?"

"Yeah. Still in training, yes I—I mean we are," Destiny stammered.

“I find that hard to believe.”

“Oh- _kay_ , I think we have enough time for another round before Dareth has his classes,” Kai interjected. “How ‘bout one on one with me this time, Des?”

The other guys, Janet, and I exchanged looks before we split off, and Blake decided to watch. Those two are really something together. No wonder Kai’s so uptight.

 

****3rd** **person** **POV****

“Why do you like singling me out so much?” Destiny asked as the two of them got into position.

“I like seeing you fight,” Kai simply replied, to which she raised an eyebrow. “That sounds bad. Uh I meant I like the way you fight. That’s worse. Uh I meant—”

She threw a punch that he barely caught. “Is it because we have opposite elements?”

“Yes! That’s it. That’s—totally the reason. Heh heh.” Meanwhile with the others, they were discussing their “guest” of the day.

“When can we kick him out?” Janet asked lowly as she avoided a punch from Cole.

“See? I’m not the only one!” Jay replied in the same tone.

“He seems focused on Destiny, especially,” Zane added as he bent back from a kick.

“Guess he’s playing favorites today,” Cole said. He glanced to the other two Ninjas. “And he’s not the only one.”

“Whatever happens, we can’t let our guards down,” Lloyd said.

“ _And_ we have to act like he’s a regular guy,” Jay commented. “I say we catch ‘em in his sleep and—”

“We’re _not_ kicking him out, Jay.”

“But we’re _Ninjas_ , Lloyd! We can make it quick!”

“You’re forgetting what Sensei and Garmadon told us last night,” Zane said.

“Can’t we?”

“Jay,” the rest of the group warned, leading him to scoff.

“Fine, but when he pulls something I’m saying I told you so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I managed to draw Des and Janet's suits a while back. The pin Janet has there is an old version. The current version is drawn on her Season 4 suits. (It's also in my profile pic for my side blog.)
> 
> Anyway, here the link: https://silver-ninja-of-the-tides.tumblr.com/post/163659091164/so-um-heres-my-ninjago-oc-destinys-ninja-suit


	11. The Truth

**Blake's POV**

Days turned into weeks, and I had healed faster than most expected. But after I was fully healed I made sure to keep a few tabs on them.

In the times I had been with them, the Silver and Gold Ninjas had gotten stronger, and the bond they shared between the group of heroes had grown. In no time they were welcomed as part of the team more so than before, and Kai and Destiny were gradually growing closer to each other. She’s an amazing person, and I never thought I’d think of her as more than an acquaintance.

During the couple of days I was with them, they appeared to be comfortable around me. But a certain Red Ninja couldn’t be more annoyingly protective of his team.

As for right now, I was paying another little visit to the Ninjas. The elders had gone out for an errand and everyone else was in the living room.

Standing behind Kai, I looked over my shoulder at the study. “Hey Kai. Could I talk to you?”

A suspicious look clear in his eyes, he followed me to the study after excusing himself. With everyone entertained by that box in the room, this was going to go well.

Picking up the pace, I slipped behind the open door just as he entered the hallway, and he growled in frustration. Once he was deep enough into the room, I calmly closed the door and locked it. Out of reflex he assumed an offensive stance.

"Oh I'm not gonna fight you, Fire Boy," Blake said. "I know you haven’t let your guard down. You never did for one second, did you? I figured out how wary you all were of me the minute I met this group. And you thought I wasn't gonna notice, did you?"

He narrowed his eyes as I held my hands up in a mock surrender.

"Well, you got me. I'm a bad boy. But, so are you. You're just tamed."

"You better keep your mouth shut before I shut it for you.”

"You can try. I have everyone else’s guard down, and by the time I make my move you’ll be short a few members.”

“Short a few—” He balled his fists. "So you _are_ the Overlord!”

"Really, Fire Boy? You wanna go there? I’m not exactly him."

"Hey who's in there?" It was Lloyd.

"It's Bla—"

I covered Kai’s mouth and had him in a head lock before he had time to react.

"Kai?" Lloyd called. The Red Ninja’s cries of warning were muffled, and then I heard a new voice.

"Lloyd? What’s going on?" It was Nya.

"Kai and Blake are in there.” The doorknob wiggled. “Rrr. The door’s locked!”

The ninja slammed his foot onto mine, and with a yelp I released him. I countered with a deep purple force field and slammed Kai into the door. He barely rolled to the side away from another shot, and the door became coated in a layer of dark matter.

I heard Lloyd blast at the door, and seconds later he growled again. “My powers aren’t working!"

"Blake is the Overlord!" Kai yelled before catching a hard punch.

"What?!"

"I said, Blake is—AH!" He ducked down from a high kick and was quick to counter with Spinjitzu. But it was going to take more than a little fire to take me down.

I jumped up and slammed my palm into the floor, releasing a dark pulse throughout the room. A resonance that those who knew of it dreaded surged throughout the building, forcing Kai out of his fire pit and into a bookshelf. Suddenly the power went out in the apartment, and soon all of Ninjago City had lost power.

“The Horns of Destruction!” Zane exclaimed.

“The what?!” Des asked.

"Guys! I need your help!" Lloyd yelled.

I watched numerous books and scrolls rain onto Kai as I slowly rose. His eyes threatened to close, but that fire of his wasn’t out just yet.

He yanked himself to his feet and surrounded himself in a fiery tornado again, illuminating the room with an orange haze.

With a short yell I swept my leg under him only for the Ninja to tackle me to the ground. I ignored the sizzling pain in my leg as I thrust him off of me.

“Someone tell me why the door is purple!” Des said as Kai and I unsteadily stood.

“Dark matter?! How do we get past this?!” Jay exclaimed.

“Wait, I got it!” Cole exclaimed. "Everybody stand back!"

I heard the sound of rocks tumbling down a slope as the Fire Ninja and I exchanged blows, but the noise was cut off abruptly.

“It didn’t work!”

"Forget that! Bust down the door!" Janet yelled.

"What do you think we're trying to do?!" Jay exclaimed. The two of us caught one another’s punches yet again, and we strained to overpower each other.

“You’re not getting _anywhere_ near the team,” Kai spat. “Not while I have a say in it.”

“I admire your passion, Red Ninja, but I’m winning this fight,” I sneered. I kneed his gut and shoved him into the bookshelf again, and this time I made sure he wasn’t getting up.

 

**3rd** **person** **POV**

"Oh step aside, people!" Janet barked.

As she prepared to break down the door, it exploded right in the heroes’ faces and knocked them down. With the heroes stunned, Blake was able to walk out of the battle-scarred study and down the hall. But upon hearing them groan, he turned to face them.

“Come find me if you _heroes_ want to settle this once and for all.” Blake rolled out of the way of a stream of Lloyd’s lightning, making him shatter a window instead.

Both Nya and Jay rushed after the culprit, but they found only an open door.

“Kai?” Lloyd called.

The rest of the heroes poured into the study that was now in ruins. The doorway was simmering and smoking, and the door was in a million pieces. Scrolls and books littered the floor and desk, and one of the bookshelves was cracked. Lying unmoving at the base of the cracked bookshelf was the Red Ninja.

Nya sat her brother up. “Kai?”

No response.

“ _Kai?_ Oh please don’t be. . . .” She noticed his chest slowly rising and falling, and a small wave of relief passed over the room.

“That's it. I'm gonna say it. I told you so!” Jay snapped. “We should’ve just kicked him out while we had the chance!”

“We just _had_ to be nice, didn't we?" Cole spat.

Footsteps running toward them brought the young heroes’ attention to the hallway, and the elders of the team appeared in the doorway. A look of quick shock passed over each of them.

“We leave for one hour and this is what happens,” Garmadon said.

“What happened in here?” Dr. Julien asked. “The power went out in the entire city!”

“Blake turned out to be the Overlord,” Nya replied with disgust. “And we just _had_ to bring him in.”

“The guy probably knows how we work now!” Jay exclaimed.

“Where is he now?” Wu asked.

“He just took off after he said to find him if we wanted to settle this,” Destiny said.

“Then we can’t waste any time,” Misako said. “We need to search the entire city now before he causes anymore damage.”

“This is Gayle Gossip reporting live in Ninjago City,” the TV stated.

“Oh great,” Janet grumbled.

“A major power outage has just recently swept over the entire city! So far no one knows what caused this power outage, but witnesses say it had something to do with some horns that they heard. . . .”

“All right, guys, let’s hunt this Overlord down,” Cole ordered.

“What about Kai?” Nya asked.

The Black Ninja blinked. “Right. Um—”

“I’ll help with him,” Destiny said.

“And this study isn’t going to clean itself,” Misako said.

As the group took their positions, Nya and Destiny got Kai to his feet and each took an arm, leaving Lloyd and Misako to the study.

“When I get my hands on that guy I’m going to fling him into next week,” the Silver Ninja heatedly muttered.

“Just don’t leave me out on the action,” Nya said. “No one messes with _my_ brother.” The girls situated Kai onto a bunk bed as Destiny was conjuring up multiple ways to dislocate a few of Blake’s limbs.

“And he was trying to act so smooth and—and all that and—ugh! And I even started to—”

A groan from Kai cut her off. “Nngh . . . what. . . .” His eyes suddenly flew open, and he shot up to hit his head against the bottom of the top bunk. “Ow.”

“You okay?” Nya asked.

“Ugh . . . a little bruised but—heeey. Where’s—”

“He’s gone, Kai,” Destiny said, and the Red Ninja growled.

“I can’t believe I let him get away with this.”

“The team’s making a sweep right as we speak,” his sister said.

He attempted to get up when a sharp pain flared up in his back.

“Easy. We can’t have you going out there like this,” the Silver Ninja said.

“I can’t just sit here while the Overlord’s running around Ninjago City! I have to do something!”

“You’re not going anywhere if you can’t even sit up,” his sister argued.

“The falcon has located the Overlord!” Zane announced as he appeared in the doorway. His attention quickly went to his friend. “You’re awake!” The Nindroid walked in. “How are you feeling?”

“Good enough to get out there and teach that guy a lesson,” Kai replied, but Zane wasn’t buying any of it.

“Judging by your expression I would say that you are _not_ good enough to get out there to teach the Overlord a lesson. You are not going after him.”

“Zane! We’re heading out!” Lloyd called, and the White Ninja looked to the girls.

“We’re on our way!” Nya replied to the Green Ninja, and the trio took off.

“So you’re just gonna leave me here?!” Kai protested.

Destiny stopped at the doorway, and she strained to keep from turning around. “We don’t need you getting hurt more than you already are because of your hot head.” I'm _not letting you get hurt more._

Once she left him to catch up with the others, Zane led the way his falcon provided.

“How many times are we going to go running through the streets of Ninjago City to find people?” Jay asked.

“As many times as we need to,” Wu answered. “And this time, we _will_ find him and put a stop to him.”

“I hope so,” Cole said. “I wanna fight this guy already!”

“That makes two of us,” Destiny replied.

As the team ran through the streets, she thought back to how her sister discovered Spinjitzu. If Janet had that power, then maybe she did, too.

_So why haven’t I done it yet?_ “Hey uh, question. How did you guys . . . y’know . . . figure out how to do Spinjitzu?”

“It will only be unlocked when the key is ready to be found,” Wu said. “Patience.”

_Okay so I just have to go through the motions, then. Good advice for someone who’s never heard of Spinjitzu._

Up above, the falcon cawed as they arrived at the main square. The city was bustling with repairs and usual city activities, but there was no sign of Blake.

"Anybody see him?" Lloyd asked.

“He should be here,” Zane replied.

“And I am!”

Citizens and heroes alike turned to see Blake on a roof.

The boy curled his hands into fists and released them. “Looks like you’re one Ninja short.” The deep purple flecks in his eyes brightened with anticipation. “Gold Ninja! You have a choice!”

All eyes turned to Janet, who held her sister back before stepping forward.

“Surrender yourself to me and I won’t harm the people. If you don’t . . . well . . . you’re smart enough to figure it out.”

She narrowed her eyes at the blonde, whose hand drifted to his jacket pocket. “You think I’m going down that easily?! You want me? Then get down here!”

“Hmph. I was told Ninjas never seemed to go down easily!” Blake leapt off the roof and slammed his fist into the ground, sending a massive shockwave throughout the square. Panic surged in the citizens as they ran for cover, and the Horns of Destruction echoed in the air as the power flickered.

“Everyone get inside!” Lloyd warned the people.

“It’s all of us against him, guys!” Jay said.

“Never underestimate the enemy!” Wu said. “Especially the Overlord!”

“Cut off all the exits! We are _not_ letting him get away again!” Cole ordered.

“Ninjaaa-GO!” the Ninjas exclaimed. Six tornadoes shot off to surround Blake, and a gold one led Destiny and Nya straight for him.

“Apparently I can change clothes!” Janet said from behind Blake as she briefly examined her suit.

Blake was thrust back by Wu’s Spinjitzu, but he was quick to block a blow from Wu’s staff and kick Destiny back. Nya was able to swipe her leg under the blonde, and the earth began to shake as a crack rapidly traveled to him. The trio quickly moved out of the way before shards of earth popped up. With one swipe of a shield of dark matter, the shards became corrupted and shattered.

“Ice!” Zane and Janet barely landed a hit on Blake, who merely threw the shield at them. Luckily it was intercepted by a blast of wind, and the rest of the team continued to keep Blake on his toes. And a fight like this wasn’t complete without someone catching it all on a news camera.

“Reporting live from the scene of the action, it seems like all of Ninjago _isn’t_ safe after all,” Gayle stated from a safe distance. “But luckily the Ninjas of Ninjago and their new friends are here to save the day!”

After getting hit by a kick from Nya, Blake rolled to the side to let Zane get pelted by a stream of water.

“Sorry!” Destiny called. Shortly afterwards Cole was shocked by one of Jay’s attacks.

“Aahh! Aim for _him!_ Not me!” Cole exclaimed.

“Well it’s not my fault he keeps moving!” Jay fired back.

“Focus!” Wu scolded.

Blake climbed back onto a roof, and Janet wasted no time in using the wind to catch up to him. Within seconds they were exchanging fierce punches and kicks. Upon spotting them, Destiny swiftly hoisted herself up toward the duo. Just as she reached the top, Janet was shoved to the ground.

"Hey!" she yelled, and Blake turned around. "Nobody picks a fight with my sister!"

The boy merely smiled. "Destiny, just the girl I wanted to see. Besides your sister, that is.”

The Silver Ninja surrounded herself with a tendril of water as her sister motioned for the others to surround him.

“Keep him occupied,” Janet mouthed.

"You fight her, you fight me."

Blake rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to speak.

“Fire!" a familiar voice shouted from behind Destiny. Blake ducked from the blast of fire, and his irritation flared greatly.

“Kai!?” Cole exclaimed.

The Red Ninja landed beside Destiny with his sword at the ready.

“You’re supposed to be inside!” she hissed.

“I’m not letting him get away this time!”

“Now’s not the time to prove yourself!”

Blake merely rolled his eyes again. “ _Fine._ This'll make things a whole lot easier for me.”

To prove him wrong, the others finally had him surrounded.

“Hmm. Let’s see. Nine of us against one of you? Huh. I find that easier for us,” Jay mocked.

“And this time, you have nowhere to hide!” Lloyd added. “ _Now!_ ”

As one the Ninjas fired their elements at Blake. A bright light flared up upon impact, and the force was enough to knock the team off the roof. When the light subsided, there wasn’t a single trace of Blake.

The Green Ninja moaned as he began to sit up. “. . . Is everyone all right?” The rest of the group muttered replies as they sat up.

“Is he gone?” Nya asked.

“I’m not quite sure this fight is over just yet,” Zane said. “His energy is still here.”

The team slowly got to its feet, and citizens hesitantly emerged from their safe havens. As the heroes scanned the square, something in Janet was warning her to stay alert.

Movement caught her green eyes, and it took her seconds to register a dark substance in a person’s hand.

"Look out!" Janet yelled. She shoved her sister out of the way, and a stinging cold sensation consumed her whole being.


	12. Corrupted

**Janet's POV**

My legs gave out from under me, but I managed to catch myself before I could fall. Something was tearing away at me from the inside, and I felt like I was on pins and needles. Sound faded in and out, and my heart began to pound in my ears.

"Janet! Get up!" Des cried. "What's wrong. . . .”

". . . dark matter!” Zane exclaimed.

_‘Fight the darkness! Find the light within yourself!’_ a voice urged in my head. Who . . . who was that. . . ?

I squeezed my eyes shut as the numbing feeling carved its way into me. “Go. . . .”

“I’m not leaving you! I’m not—losing you!” Des stated. “Isn’t there a— . . .”

“I . . . am afraid not. . . .” Sensei said, his voice filled with dread.

The numbness paused as I strained to focus on any light left inside me, but I couldn’t hold it back for much longer.

Dark matter began to pulse through me, and my eyes were slow to open. I could hear my labored breathing, and the rest of me began to relax.

"Janet?" Nya called hesitantly. I'm surrounded. I can fix that.

I abruptly shot a pulse of wind at the person in front of me, and a few people in the group shouted protests.

“Sensei!” the group exclaimed. The group pulled away from me as I stood, and the earth stirred a bit the second I laid eyes on them.

“You! What did you do to her?!” Des demanded.

“Your sister’s mine now!” Blake fired back from behind me.

My sister balled her fists. “You're gonna get it, Blake!"

“We can’t fight _both_ of them!” Jay said. “Janet’s too powerful on his side!”

“Hello? Ultimate Spinjitzu Master here?” Lloyd reminded.

“Oh. Right.”

I merely summoned a gold sword in response, and spikes protruded from the blade once I stepped forward. But suddenly a bamboo staff pressed itself against my collarbone, and I viciously fought against it.

I flung Wu over my head, and he managed to land on his feet as the rest of the group split into two. This is what I get for trusting these guys.

 

****Destiny's POV** **

With one stomp the earth knocked us all into the air, but Jay was the first to recover.

"Try not to hurt her!" I exclaimed

Then Jay made contact with Janet's gold tornado, sending her into a wheel barrel the next instant.

"I said don't hurt her!"

"Sorry!"

I ran to Blake as he was being kicked in the side by Nya, and I sent a small wave at Blake only for him to shove it aside with a dark pulse. He caught my fist and kicked toward the spot she used to be at, and I heard Jay yell before a thud followed afterwards.

I pushed against Blake as he barely ducked a punch from Cole, and I was able to knee his gut. I bent back to avoid a swinging punch before flipping over his head as he was struck by a hard kick. Before I knew it I was engulfed in a silver whirlwind streaked with a sort of ocean blue.

"You did it!" Nya cheered.

I clashed with Blake, who was sucked into my tornado and could barely avoid my attacks.

"You have a lot of spunk. I like spunk," Blake commented.

I shoved him out of the whirlwind and ceased spinning, and Cole and Nya were quick to lock him in combat. I heard someone hit the ground, and I looked to see Janet hurl a boulder at Kai. I hastily wrapped water around him and yanked him toward me, and the boulder missed his head by inches.

"That was close!" he breathed. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," I said. “Now please stay in one piece.”

Jay and Sensei broke from the others to help out Cole and Nya, and soon Lloyd was the only one able to keep up with my sister.

"You wouldn't have a head if I didn't see you sooner."

"And I happen to need it," Kai replied.

“Ironic when sometimes you don’t even use it.”

Right when we were about to head toward Janet and Lloyd, a ring of earth surrounded them. He flipped over a stream of fire, and a pillar of earth rose between me and the blast before I knew it. Did she just. . . .

“I can handle this! Help the others!” Lloyd shouted. Janet’s eyes glanced to us, and the ring rose to become a wall.

“I think she was trying to protect us,” Zane guessed.

“But the dark matter corrupted her,” I argued. “Unless. . . .”

“She’s fighting against it!” Kai concluded.

 

**Lloyd's POV**

I rolled under a blast of lightning that made my hair stand on end, and behind me a chunk of the earth wall flew out. I was quick to retaliate with a blast of ice that she was quick to melt.

“I know you’re still in there,” I said. “You wouldn’t put this wall up if you weren’t fighting it.”

“Talking isn’t going to do anything!” she snapped.

She charged at me with a dimmed Spinjitzu, and I had no choice but to meet her the same way. I avoided all of her blows and tried to stun her every chance I got, but we were too evenly matched.

Both of us fired an element at each other, but we ended up thrusting each other back. We dazedly stood up after a few moments, and her hands were quick to ignite. The fire made her purple eyes stand out, that look of pure hatred making her seem pretty intimidating.

She fired twice at me, and I was barely able to avoid them along with a blast of lightning. Suddenly she drew her arms back, and the wind threatened to pick up.

“Go,” she snapped.

“W-what?”

“I said go! Before I change my mind—” She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head to the side, lightning flickering in her hand. The memory of my father fighting the Overlord’s possession flashed in my mind. But this was completely different! Once you’ve been corrupted by the dark matter there’s no going back. So how is she—

“Nooo!” Kai shouted.

I looked over my shoulder at outburst, and the next thing I knew, I was soaring into the air. I slammed into the ground with a nasty _thud_ , and I struggled to raise my head to see the earth wall lower. A hand helped me sit up, and I looked to see my uncle by me. The rest of the team was worn out despite them only fighting against Blake.

But Des was missing.

“W-where’s Des?” I asked.

“Right here.”

We all looked to see Blake walking toward us beside Des, who was corrupted by the dark matter. Janet summoned her sword again with her eyes locked onto us, and she began to march toward us.

"Ease down, Janet," Blake ordered, and she reluctantly came to a halt before dismissing her sword.

“Whatever plan you have with them, we _will_ stop it,” Uncle stated.

"With the Gold Ninja as my ally, I think not. Your ‘Ultimate Spinjitzu Master’ hardly stood a chance. And I’m _not_ the Overlord. I’m his successor.”

The team made exclamations of shock.

"You’re his _successor?_ " Jay asked. “Since when does the Overlord have a successor? _Especially_ one like you.”

“I’m not just anyone, Blue Ninja,” Blake retorted. “I was made from the dark matter.”

"But the matter doesn't have the power to create,” Zane objected. “It can only corrupt.”

"Believe me. The Overlord has his ways.”

Des and Janet used fire and water to craft a smoke screen (it’s more like a steam screen in this case), and within seconds the square was covered in thick steam. Kai darted through the steam after them, but when everything was cleared, the trio was gone.

"What—just— _happened_ _?!_ " Jay asked.

"Our friends have been corrupted by the dark matter and—”

“Zane, it was a rhetorical question.”

“There has to be a way to get them back,” Nya stated.

Uncle helped me stand. “My only guess is defeating the Overlord’s successor.”

“Then we’ll find them,” Kai concluded firmly. “And we’ll get them back.”

“Ninjas of Ninjago! Can you answer a few questions?” Gayle Gossip asked, her news team trailing behind her. How is she still here?!

“Uhh now’s not really the best time for that,” I tried to say, but she kept pressing us. And by us I mean me.

“Green Ninja, is Ninjago City safe with the new evil Ninjas loose on the streets? Who was that boy with them? Is a new threat now taking over Ninjago in the form of rogue Ninjas and their leader?”

“Everything is under control,” Uncle said. “Now if you will excuse us, we need to um . . . regroup. Uh good day.” He ushered us away from the news team, and luckily they were quickly occupied by witnesses.

“I can’t believe we lost against _one guy_ ,” Cole said, defeated.

“And we would’ve still had them if we just—”

“Enough!” Uncle ordered, cutting Kai off. “We will get them back. Right now we must focus on today before we focus on tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *insert gif of that black cat evilly laughing here*


	13. Insight

**3rd** **person** **POV  
**

> _Two of their own were out cold, and he could barely land a hit without getting hit himself._
> 
> _Blake easily avoided a sword swing and blasted him back square in the chest. He rolled a few times before landing on his stomach, and Destiny was quick to avenge him. The battle between her and Blake was like a vicious dance as they exchanged attacks, and the others with the exception of Sensei Wu were scarcely making a hit._
> 
> _He stabbed his sword into the ground to force himself to stand, blatantly ignoring his body’s fierce protests. Blake blasted the rest of the team back with a sonic pulse, shattering the heads of most of the lampposts. He figured he wasn’t doing the team any good by fighting in his condition, let alone even being here._
> 
> _As Wu and the White Ninja continued to bring the fight to Blake, Nya and Destiny stayed behind to help the other male Ninja to his feet._
> 
> _“You need to head back,” Nya urged. “You can’t fight like this.”_
> 
> _“Not while the team still needs me,” he said, watching Zane get rammed into a pole by a powerful pulse. The girls glanced to Blake and Wu having a stand-off._
> 
> _“I’ll take him back,” Destiny said. “Go help Sensei.”_
> 
> _Nya worriedly looked from him to Wu, who was now locked in intense combat. With a restrained sigh she joined the old mentor, and the Silver Ninja was practically dragging him away from the fight_ _._
> 
> _“Hey what are you—”_
> 
> _“Listen to me.” She held him by the shoulders. “You’re going back. Okay? The rest of us can handle Blake and my sister. You’re doing yourself more harm than good if you keep fighting.”_
> 
> _But he wasn’t paying attention to her._
> 
> _Without warning he yanked her to the ground as another blast skid right over them. The duo raised their heads to see Nya unconscious and their sensei trapped in a dome of dark matter._
> 
> _Blake took his time walking to them. “You’re helpless against the dark matter. Your team of ‘ninjas’ is_ nothing _against it.”_
> 
> _The duo stood up and readied themselves._
> 
> _“Heh. Looks like you’re stuck with me,” the Ninja said. The Blue and Black Ninjas, now fully conscious, quickly ran back into the scene to help._
> 
> _“Take_ one step further _, and Wu ends up like your Gold Ninja.” Upon command, the dome shrunk down two sizes, and the Earth and Lightning Ninjas were forced to watch their comrades battle it out._
> 
> _“Ninjaaa-GO!” the other two Ninjas shouted._
> 
> _Their Spinjitzu enveloped them and surrounded Blake, and the trio became a mesh of silver and orange. After taking multiple hits from the Ninjas he slammed an elbow onto his lower back. The orange tornado vanished instantly as its wielder stumbled onto the ground, pain clear on his face._
> 
> _With a blast of water Blake was shoved away from them, and the silvery tornado died out to reveal Destiny ready to deliver another water whip. The moment he was back on his feet, Destiny charged at him only to be swatted aside by a dark pulse._
> 
> _“Destiny!” the remaining heroes exclaimed, and Zane and Nya headed straight for Blake._
> 
> _“No wait!” Cole exclaimed, and the dome shrunk down another size._
> 
> _“If we get in there he’ll turn Sensei against us!” Jay warned as Blake marched to the fallen Ninja._
> 
> _“Don’t worry about me!” Wu said, briefly studying the dome. “You must help your team!”_
> 
> _“But we can’t risk losing you, too!” Nya protested._
> 
> _The fallen Ninja was struggling to sit himself up, and he was falling increasingly helpless against Blake, who was closing in on him._
> 
> _“Kai! Get out of there!” Zane shouted._
> 
> _In the palm of the successor’s hand formed a small ball of dark matter, and all the Ninja could do was inch away from him. He tried to reach for his sword, but it was barely within reach._
> 
> _“We have to do something!” Nya shouted._
> 
> _“But we’ll lose either way!” Jay exclaimed._
> 
> _Blake was nearly on top of him, and fear and regret began to take hold of him. The team was pinned down in a corner, and it was all because he was too stubborn to stay behind._
> 
> _He towered over the fallen Ninja, and the Ninja shut his eyes as he prepared for the worst._
> 
> _A gust of wind past in front of him, and his eyes flew open just as Destiny hit the ground._
> 
> _“Noooo!”_

 

“Kai?”

The Red Ninja flinched into the present, and he blinked a few times before looking to his sister.

“You okay?”

He turned his head away from her, his mind barely registering the rest of the team intently discussing how to locate Blake, Janet, and Destiny. _I could've _done_ something._ _I could've fought my way out or used my surroundings to get myself out of there, but I didn't. Why couldn’t I just get up?!_

He felt like tearing all of Ninjago apart until he could find Blake—the one who started it all.

“It's my fault that we lost them,” Kai admitted. “If I had just stayed put none of this would’ve happened.” _We would’ve had one of them instead of neither._

Nya placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll find Blake, and we’ll get them back. I promise.”

Kai smiled at her. “Thanks, sis.”

“. . . . So we’re wandering around with no plan here?” Jay asked. “What if we actually run into them, huh?"

“I doubt they’d leave the city, so those guys could be anywhere,” Cole said.

“I suggest you all keep sharp eyes out,” Garmadon reminded. “They’ve been trained by another _and_ us.”

“And we all know how evasive Janet and Des were,” Lloyd said.

“Uh, still are,” Jay commented.

 

Hidden away from all contact from anyone laid Blake and his newest allies. Now that his first phase was done with, all they had to do was take those Ninjas down once and for all.

But first he had to get to the next phase.

“It reeks down here!” Destiny snapped, holding her nose.

“So what do we need to do?” Janet asked. “We can’t take them out now.”

“We’re laying low until the time is right,” Blake said. “There’s no doubt they’ll be looking for you by now.”

“Yeah. This is low, all right,” Destiny quipped.

“And the big plan _is?_ ” Janet asked.

“We’re going somewhere far from here,” Blake answered, “and you’ll learn how to actually use your powers there.”

“And where exactly are we going?”

 

**Nya’s POV**

“No sign of them in the main square,” Dr. Julien’s voice said through my earpiece.

“Nothing from us, either,” I replied. “We’ll keep looking.”

He broke connection as Lloyd and I crossed the street. Activity out in Ninjago City has slowed down since the sun has started to set, but people were a little on edge. With Janet and Des loose on the streets with Blake, I’d be on edge, too.

I glanced to Lloyd, and he seemed focused on other things. He hasn’t spoken much since we’ve left. I wonder what’s on his mind. . . .

“You okay?”

Lloyd looked to me and averted his gaze the next instant. Then he sighed. “I just . . . can’t seem to wrap my head around something, that’s all.”

“Like what?”

He hesitated. “Well, once you’ve been corrupted by the dark matter there’s no going back. But Janet was fighting against it.”

“Maybe she’s stronger than we thought.”

“It can’t just be that. It’s . . . something inside her that’s . . . kind of familiar, but I can’t seem to figure out why.”

“The connection you two share might have something to do with it.”

“I think you’re right. . . .”

“It’s the Rogue Ninja!” someone shouted. Both of us turned around to see someone dart past a building, and we exchanged glances before going after them.

“Man. People already have a name for them.”

“You know how Gayle is with her news,” I said. The runner darted right into the street and was nearly hit by more than a few cars. Luckily for us they got a red light.

“If we split up maybe we can catch them!”

“Got it!”

I followed after our runner as I weaved my way through the crowd. The culprit expertly avoided passing people, earning a lot of surprised exclamations. I caught something dull hop onto the top of a bench just as a bus was going by, and I pushed my way faster to catch up. But by the time I made it through, they were gone.

“I lost track of him,” I said. “What about you?”

“I got ‘em on the run! They’re on the roof!” Lloyd exclaimed. “Why do these guys like roofs so much?”

I looked above me to see him right on their tail up on the roofs of several shops. “I’ll stay down here in case they decide to pull a—”

Suddenly he yelled, and I watched him get blown off the roof. Citizens made surprised exclamations as he rolled to a stop, and I halted in my place as the runner easily landed by means of air. Seconds later people were running from the scene, and I had to avoid getting run over by some of them.

Lloyd slowly got to his feet and looked the enemy in the eye. “Janet! I know you’re still in there!”

“Nya, Kai says the falcon’s picked up activity in your area,” Zane said. “Is everything all right?”

“We’ve found Janet, but don’t move in just yet,” I said. “If things get too heated we’ll—”

A blast of air knocked me back, and I managed to grab onto a lamppost in the process.

“Nya?!” Jay called in a panic.

“Everything’s fine! Just a little windy!” A yelp escaped me as my grip nearly slipped.

“We’re coming, Nya!”

“Jay, we can handle this! Just focus on the mission.”

“At least let Zane and I help!” The wind died down as Janet focused more of her attention on fighting Lloyd.

I couldn’t help sighing. “Fine, but just you two. We need as many of us as possible out on the field if we’re going to find the other two.” I slid down the lamppost and tried to make my way to Janet from behind.

“Going for Round Three?” she taunted.

“I’m _not_ fighting you,” Lloyd argued, and he narrowly flipped over a stream of fire.

“Remember how that worked last time?”

She shot ice right at his head, and the biting element scraped his shoulder. A jolt of lightning came hurtling toward him, and he countered it with his own stream. The instant their elements met it knocked them back, Janet crashing into me in the process.

“We’re too even!” Lloyd stressed.

The Gold Ninja locked on to me, and she was quick to surround herself with Spinjitzu. I backed away and skimmed the area for a weapon. Snatching a crowbar, I whacked her in what I hoped was her shoulder, and her tornado lurched to the left before sputtering out.

Spikes of earth suddenly surrounded and crossed over Janet, and I took the opportunity to get to Lloyd’s side. It took her no time to shatter the spikes, and she immediately turned to charge right at us. Both fire and air were hurled at us, but Lloyd fired his green powers in reply. Their elements met in the middle, and both of them pushed against the other.

“You have to fight back!” he tried to persuade her. “I know you have it in you!”

Janet bared her teeth as she put more force into her elements, and the Green Ninja was forced to make his element stronger. Gradually, he began to slide back. I have to think of some way to help!

Suddenly her elements flickered, and the stream of green became greater for an instant. She squeezed her eyes shut, and for some reason Lloyd did, too.

“He’s . . . planning to leave. . . .” she grunted.

“. . . Who?” Lloyd forced out.

“Blake. . . .” Janet pushed herself to keep her stream going, but she was gradually pulling back.

“Where is he going?” I pressed.

“He’s . . . going to. . . .”

Lloyd furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, and Janet mirrored him.

“The Dark Island. . . .”

His green eyes flew open with a shocked expression, and suddenly he flew back.

“Lloyd!” I bolted for him just as I heard Janet let out a loud breath. “Are you okay?!”

He forced himself to sit up. “There’s something in her definitely fighting back. I just. . . .” he restrained a grunt as he stood up, “can’t seem to figure out what.”

Janet studied us, and gold sparked up in her hand as her sword materialized.

I stood to face her. “Janet, if you’re in there, tell us when he’s leaving.”

Her hand tightened over the hilt, and she fought to loosen it. “I . . . I don’t know.” She lingered for a bit longer, and she growled as her sword vanished. Her hands tightened to fists, and she quickly darted off. Narrowing my eyes, I ran after her.

“Wait!”

Lloyd’s urgency made me stop. “If we follow her she’ll lead us to Des and Blake!”

“We need to tell everyone about his plan. There has to be a reason why he’s going to the Dark Island.”

I glanced back to where I last saw Janet. As much as I want to go after her, he’s right. Whatever reason he has for going back to that island can’t be good.

The falcon cawed from above, and I spotted it slowing to a hover.

“Garmadon says there might be a way to reverse the effects of the dark matter,” Kai said. “I already told the others to meet back home.”

“Reverse the effects?” I asked.

“He can’t remember what it’s called, but if it means getting them back, them I’m all for it.”


	14. Aerial Pursuit

**Blake's POV**

Des was constantly pacing back and forth and fingering her pin. “Rrr, where _is_ she?”

“I’m sure she has a good reason for taking off,” I said calmly.

“You still could’ve let me go out there after her.”

“I don’t want to risk losing both of you to them.”

She stopped. “What, you think we’re not strong enough to go up against them? We _have_ fought them before.”

I placed a hand on her shoulder. “I just don’t want to take the chance of losing valuable allies.”

Her eyes glared daggers at me. “You’re irritating, Blake. You really are.” Her expression quickly softened. “But I appreciate the concern.”

The hatch slipped open and closed, and Janet came sliding down the ladder. She looked from me to Des and then back to me, and I snatched my hand off the Silver Ninja’s shoulder.

“Where have you been?” I interrogated.

Janet slowly faced us.

“What were you doing out there?!” Des exclaimed.

“I sold us out.”

“What?! Why would you do that?! You know who else did that to us?!”

“You don’t need to remind me!”

The area fell silent as her outburst echoed throughout the area.

“Look I don’t know _why_ I did it. It was just an urge I couldn’t ignore.”

That light won’t go down easily, will it? Well that’s exactly why we’re going to the Dark Island. Well, one of the reasons.

I sighed heavily. “All right, look. We need to move now while they’re busy preparing.”

“If you expect me to do _all_ the work, then you might as well give me back to the Ninjas,” Des snapped.

“Well we can’t steal their dragon,” Janet said. “And you won’t be doing _all_ of the work.”

“What about a boat?”

“We can steal that.”

“No, we’re _not_ stealing a boat,” I concluded. “Now let’s move. We have a long trip ahead of us.”

 

**3rd** **person** **POV**

“So this opposite,” Nya started, “it’ll turn them back?” The group of heroes was just finishing up preparations for their trip to the Dark Island, and they were hoping Blake, Destiny, and Janet haven’t already gotten a head start.

“Absolutely,” Garmadon replied. “An opposite of the dark matter will reverse the affects completely. If we’re going to beat them to the island, we must leave now.”

“I'm bringing my scrolls for a resource if we need one,” Misako said. “I have a feeling we'll be able to benefit from them.”

A yell from Lloyd along with a crash brought the group outside. The Ultra Dragon was landing on the ground with Lloyd on his back, the Ninja’s hair coated in heavy frost with his sleeves slightly burnt.

“He uh, he just needed to get something out of his system,” the Green Ninja admitted as he fixed his hair. The earth head laughed lowly. "Hah. Okay, boy, very funny."

The rest of the team mounted the dragon, and the falcon left Dr. Julien’s arm to perch on his son’s shoulder.

“I may not be there entirely, but a part of me will be with you,” he said. “Good luck to all of you.”

“Thank you, Father,” Zane replied. “And we will return soon.”

With another wave and a shake of the reins, the team took off into the air.

"Is anyone else feeling queasy about the fact that we're returning to the Dark Island?" Jay asked.

"It is strange going back," Garmadon replied.

"We all feel the same after what happened not so long ago, but we must do what we must to bring them back,” Wu said.

"Whatever it takes. We’re ready,” Kai affirmed.

Back with the trio, they were miraculously picking their way through the city without any notice. But some people were more restless than others.

“Couldn’t you just fly us there? You have wind, you know,” Destiny whispered.

“Do you _want_ to get caught?” Janet hissed.

“No, I want to _get_ there faster. The sooner we leave the better.”

“Just shut up, please. We get there when we get there.”

With a huff Destiny stayed quiet for a few moments, but from out of nowhere a shadow zipped right over them. The trio looked up to see the dragon flying ahead of them. “ _Now_ can you fly us?!”

“We need directions!” As if on cue, up ahead whistling his way down the sidewalk was a certain brown ninja. The sisters exchanged mischievous looks.

“Hey you!”

“Huh?” Dareth squinted at the incoming trio hard, but by the time he figured out who they were it was too late.

Destiny grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him up against a wall, and he yelped at the notion. “You know where the docks to this city are?”

“D-docks?”

“Yes, the docks. Do you know where they are?”

He steeled himself against her threatening tone. “As the official Brown Ninja, I will not fall to the likes of you false ninjas.”

In a heartbeat Janet summoned her sword and pointed it to his neck.

“Ah-AH! Okay okay I’ll take you to the docks! Just-just . . . don’t hurt me.”

The Silver Ninja tossed him out into the open. “Can you—”

“Don’t—ask me—again.” Janet summoned the wind to sweep the group of four off their feet, and a scream escaped Dareth. But her sword was quick to shut him up. “Start giving directions. I don’t know how long I can hold the four of us.”

The “Brown Ninja” sputtered direction after direction, and along the way the group earned all sorts of looks from the people down below. But after they identified the group, exclamations were quick to turn the heads of the Ninjas. Racing behind them on a current of air was the trio plus an extra member.

“They kidnapped Dareth?!” Jay spat. “ _And_ she can fly?! Oh that’s just great.”

“She might not be able to hold on for long,” Garmadon said. “We need to move quickly.”

The Brown Ninja finally registered the dragon they were now catching up to and its passengers. “The Ninjas! Oh I’m so glad those guys are here! Over here!”

“Please just stop talking,” Destiny said, exasperated. “Or I’m drowning you.”

Gradually the groups became neck in neck, and Janet stole a glance at the Ninjas before picking up a little speed.

“I’m sorry about this, but I have to stop you!” Kai exclaimed. “Fire!” A burst of his element made the group of four waver a bit, and Destiny sent a gush of water that nearly drove the dragon off course.

“Back off, Spike!” she barked.

“Not until all of you are grounded!” Wu fired back. Jay couldn’t help snickering at that.

“Haven’t you ever heard of ‘Ninjas never quit’?!”

Cole shrugged. “Eh, she has a point.”

“See? The talking rock agrees with me.”

“Exactly! Wait. . . . Hey! I’m not a rock! Do I even _look_ like one?"

"Is that a trick question?"

Cole held an unamused expression, but his dark eyes widened as he was nearly knocked off the dragon by a blast from Blake.

“Come on! You can do better than that!”

“Ice!”

Dareth screamed as the shot accidentally skimmed over his head, and Janet wavered more than before.

“Sorry, Dareth!”

“Could you _not_ antagonize them?! I’m flying here!” the Gold Ninja yelled as Blake and Destiny attacked the Ninjas.

“Well fly faster and we won’t have to deal with them!” the older sibling ordered.

With a growl Janet shot forward, and the dragon roared as he followed suit. But the burst of speed temporarily died down, and she began to feel the fatigue from the effort.

“She’s getting weaker!” Cole announced.

Janet’s breathing was becoming labored, and she looked over her shoulder to see the Ninjas catching up despite the multiple shots fired at them. “We better be almost there!”

“Uh yes! D-definitely!” Dareth said despite his franticness.

“C’mon, Janet, just a little more. . . .” Destiny encouraged. The group dropped a few feet, and she began to reach out to the fast approaching water.

“They’re getting close to the water!” Kai shouted.

“C’mon, boy, faster!” Lloyd urged.

“Drop him!” Blake commanded.

“What?!” Janet barked.

“Do it!”

She gripped the back of Dareth’s shirt, and he once again yelped.

But her grip loosened.

She knew it would only do more harm than good.

She knew it was wrong.

The dragon’s shadow was right on top of them, and up ahead were the docks fast approaching them.

“Janet,” Destiny warned.

“Throw him!” Blake ordered.

The dark matter in her took hold again, and she tossed Dareth off the wind current.

But the wind slipped from her command the next instant.

Everyone exclaimed different names, and Destiny was forced to command the sea to catch them. Blake fired at the dragon, and the shot thrust them off course.

“We’re out of control!” Jay exclaimed as the rest of his team yelled.

The screams of the heroes faded out the further the trio surfed away, and a giant splash sounded moments later.

“Did we . . . did we lose them?” Janet asked, leaning against her sister drained and exhausted.

Destiny looked over her shoulder to see the dragon floating in the water and the team scattered. They had managed to save Dareth, but a certain red ninja was downheartedly watching them race off. She tore her attention from the group to focus on the task at hand. He was the enemy, and he was the one she hated the most.


	15. Wipeout

“Everyone okay?” Nya asked. The group murmured replies as they situated themselves on the dragon.

“Zane, how long until they reach the Dark Island?” Misako asked.

“According to their speed, alternating modes of transportation, and their experience with their elemental powers, their arrival might be within a week and a half, perhaps two weeks at the most,” he replied.

“Well that’s good news,” Cole commented.

“But it certainly doesn’t mean we should take our time getting there,” Garmadon added. “Whatever they plan on doing there can’t be good.”

“Then we better get moving,” Kai answered, keeping his eyes on the small dot that was the trio. “The sooner we get there the sooner we can get them back.”

 

Destiny had not taken her eyes off the horizon since they had lost the Ninjas. The trip had been filled with silence so far, but she wished she could say the same for her mind. The majority of her thoughts held anger and hate, and the rest of them held the mission in high regards. If she wanted to get those Ninjas off their backs she had to cover as much ground as she could before she reached her limit. Or in their case, water.

“I still think we should’ve stolen a boat,” she spat.

“I’m pretty sure none of you know how to man a boat,” Blake replied.

“And I’m pretty sure you don’t, either,” Janet answered simply. “First time for everything.”

“And might I remind you that we’re surfing blind?” Destiny said. “It’s pitch black out here.”

“Oh just stop you’re whining!” The Gold Ninja produced a large flame and held her arm up.

“I’m not whining. I’m just expressing how we could’ve all been doing the work with a boat instead of only _two of us_ doing the work.”

“I’m guiding you to the island,” Blake said. “That’s playing my part.”

“Well who’s actually getting us there, Blondie?”

“Oh just shut up, both of you,” Janet moaned. “If we’re pulling an all-nighter we need to have as much energy as possible.”

“Just trust me. All of this will pay off in the end,” Blake reassured.

Gradually the night grew older, and the Silver Ninja was soon left with her thoughts. The moon was the only source of light for miles around, reflecting off of the glassy surface of the water. With the slight breeze passing through and the sound of the waves, she was slowly being lulled into sweet slumber. And sleep seemed so good right now. . . .

Shaking herself awake, she refocused on the water. But fatigue kept poking at her, and she felt their momentum slow. She strained to keep the wave higher, but the more she tried the lower they got. She put all her energy into raising them higher, but soon the ocean began to crawl its way to them.

That is until they suddenly stopped.

“It’s my shift now.”

Destiny looked to see her sister maintaining their position with a hand on Blake’s ankle, her deep purple eyes appearing to glow. Relaxing, she leaned against her as they propelled forward. Her eyes began to study the movement of the sea, and its rhythmic pace filled her ears.

“I know you really want to get as far away from those guys as possible, but you almost drowned us.”

“Yeah yeah, I know. I’m sorry.” The Ninja turned her attention back to the sea.

“. . . Something else is bothering you.”

Destiny sighed in annoyance. "It’s nothing. Now focus on the task.”

“I’m going to drop us if you don’t spill.”

She pursed her lips and sighed in frustration. “Fine. It’s those boys.”

“Really? The boys? You’re going to let them get to you?”

“I’m _not_ letting them get to me. I just don’t want another Delshir.”

“We’re not going to have another Delshir. They turned on us, so we’re going to show them what happens when they mess with us.” _They’re your team! You can’t fight against them!_

Janet furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. _I can’t believe I just thought that._

“But those _jerks_ aren’t going to quit,” Destiny retorted.

“So then we won’t, either.”

Destiny cursed the Ninjas under her breath as she crossed her arms, Janet sighing at the notion.

She felt a pang of some sort in her head, almost as if something was scolding her. But she passed the feeling as a headache. “Just go to sleep before you wake up Blake.”

 

 

**Zane's POV**

By sunrise most of us were already awake. The dragon had resulted to swimming during the night, but I knew that even dragons needed their rest.

“If we continue at this rate we might reach the island before they do,” I stated.

“That is if you don’t count breaks,” Nya added. “I think the dragon’s getting a little tired.” The lightning head growled in agreement.

Looking at the horizon, I switched to Falcon Vision. My friend was much farther than we were, but I couldn’t see any sign of land through him. What I did see were three people riding a current of air. Almost immediately after I had spotted them, he sent their coordinates to me.

“The falcon has spotted them,” I announced, switching back to my original view.

“How far off are they?” Cole asked.

“They’re five miles away.”

“Whaddya say, boy? Think you can catch up to ‘em?” Lloyd asked.

The fire head roared as if to say, “Of course I can!” Quickly, the dragon rose from the water and took off.

“Zane, can you keep an eye on them?”

With a nod I reconnected with the falcon. But once I did, I found him narrowly avoiding shots from Destiny. “They’ve spotted him! We need to move quickly!” I scarcely felt a hand on my shoulder as I felt our speed increase.

“It’s just a bird! Don’t waste your energy!” Blake snapped.

“It’s not just a bird! It’s Zane’s falcon! They’re tracking us!” Destiny shot.

“And once again _I’m_ the one who has to make like a banana and split!” Janet shot back.

“Well we need to slow them down! I don’t care where they are!” Blake ordered.

“What do you want me to do, make a tsunami?!” Destiny fired.

“Well you’re strong enough to make one!”

“Fine!”

“Destiny’s going to try to slow us down!” I cautioned.

“She can't be _that_ strong!” Kai said.

“You’d be surprised what one is willing to do when they put their mind to it,” Garmadon replied.

I felt the dragon climb toward the sky as I refocused on the trio. There was something dark looming underneath them, and its mass was very concerning.

“There’s something in the water!” Destiny warily warned as the falcon swooped under Blake’s shot.

My friend scanned the shape in the water. Judging by its length and somewhat familiar movements, I could only assume what it was.

The falcon cawed twice urgently, and I spotted a stream of fire becoming extinguished. When I switched back, I found that we had already caught up with them.

“Ohhhh I do _not_ wanna know what that thing is!” Jay said, peering into the water.

Destiny was able to raise a wall of water in front of us, but right before she could send it crashing onto us, the sea erupted behind them. Several tentacles protruded from a squid-like creature, and a fierce roar rattled the sky.

“It’s the Leviathan!” I exclaimed. Janet immediately shot fire at it, agitating it. “Wait! Don’t!”

The Leviathan dove back under the water, and moments later it appeared in front of us.

“Go go go!” Destiny urged.

With one swing the creature knocked the trio aside, scattering them in different directions. Diving back under, it began to make significant ground toward Janet.

“We have to help them!” Kai exclaimed.

“Cole! Take over!” Lloyd exclaimed. After hastily handing the reins off, he jumped off the saddle and summoned his golden dragon, his suit turning golden, as well.

As the rest of us flew after Destiny, she summoned a wave and sprinted toward Blake. Several blasts of water were fired at us, and the ice head froze every single shot. Soon she was able to snatch up Blake, and she began to head toward Janet, who was battling Lloyd while avoiding tentacle swings.

The Silver Ninja sent a wall of water toward us, and we narrowly flew up to avoid it. Blake kept us occupied as Janet and Lloyd shot lightning at the same time. They thrust each other back, and the Leviathan managed to catch Lloyd just in time.

“Janet!” Destiny turned on us immediately with a livid expression, and a silver mist-like substance began to form over an extremely large patch of water.

“The water!” Cole shouted.

“GO UP! GO UP!” Jay screamed.

“What about Lloyd?!” Garmadon said.

As the Leviathan made his way to us with the Green Ninja above water, an enormous wave coated in a silver substance towered over us. Dread fell over us at the mere sight of it, and before we knew it the wave came crashing down.


	16. All That Glitters

**Cole's POV**

The screams of the team echoed in my head, and my eyes flew open before I shot up with a gasp, coughing up water afterwards.

“Easy,” Garmadon urged gently.

“What. . . .” I skimmed over my surroundings. There was nothing but ocean and sky, and the dragon was floating in the water. “What happened?”

“Zane said the Leviathan found us before it disappeared,” Nya explained.

“Where’s everyone else?”

“We haven’t seen any signs of the others,” Misako answered.

“And Janet and Des?”

“Long gone, I presume,” Garmadon replied.

“The others must have been relocated,” Zane answered.

I slipped my hood off. “Then we better start looking for them.”

 

 

****Sensei's POV** **

The darkness was the only thing I saw for a very long time, and the muffled sounds of the past events replayed in my mind. My eyes twitched open, and the high noon sun almost blinded me. Closing my eyes again, I slowly sat up as I opened my eyes once more to let them adjust to the sun. I heard crashing waves in front of me, so I could only assume we had washed up on the Dark Island.

Getting up with the help of my staff, I spotted Lloyd not far from me in his usual ninja attire. I briskly walked to him and felt his pulse. “Lloyd, wake up.”

He groaned and squeezed his already shut eyes tighter before sitting up. “Where are we?”

I looked to the forest behind me. “Not on the Dark Island.”

Lloyd got up and rubbed the back of his head. “Where’s the rest of the team?”

“They may either be on another side of this island, or on a different island entirely.”

“Let's hope they're on the other side. But hey. At least we can spend some quality uncle-nephew time, right?”

I patted his back with a smile. “Yes, that much is true.” With an arm behind me, I began to walk toward the dense-looking forest. “Come. We must find the others quickly.”

 

**Jay's POV**

Waves brushing up against the shore was the first thing I heard. Oh good! Land! Now we can figure out what Blake intends to do here. (You know without getting ourselves killed.)

I quickly had to shield my eyes from the sun, and when I sat up, I found myself on a nice beach. Yeah, I’m pretty sure the Dark Island has worse beaches than this one.

As I looked around, I couldn’t find anyone else nearby. Oh this is just great.

“Hello?! Anybody?!”

Nothing.

“Ugh, great. Now I’m stuck here by myself and—”

“Jay?”

Wait. I’d know that voice from anywhere! “Kai?! Over here!” I jogged down the beach and managed to pick out Kai's suit from where I was. “You find the others?!”

“No. Looks like we’re the only ones here!” The two of us caught up to each other. “Think they might be on another island?”

“Oh who knows? The point is we’re stuck here with no way off this island!”

“Hey, I’m not too happy about being stranded here, either, but we might as well start figuring out where the others are.” He turned his back to me and headed for the forest. “Maybe they might be here, too.”

After looking around for a bit, I followed him on our trek into the forest. The air had this kind of foreboding feel to it. Something’s off around here, and I’m pretty sure I’m not going to like it.

“Call me crazy, but aren’t trees supposed to be . . . I dunno, not shiny?”

“We’ve only been on this piece of rock for a few minutes and you’re already going crazy.”

“Okay. Then explain how that trunk over there looks like bronze.”

Kai stomped to a stop and whirled around. “Jay, trees are not made of—”

His eyes flickered to the tree, and with a raised eyebrow he walked to it. He squinted hard at it, clearly not believing what he was seeing. To make absolutely sure, he knocked on the tree.

“You’re right. . . .”

Our eyes travelled up the tree, and we practically marveled at the jade and emerald leaves. The sunlight caught in the emerald leaves casted millions of green dots all over the ground. I could even see amber flowers up there!

A red flash caught my eye, and I was immediately drawn to a garnet rose. "Woah-ho-ho, check this out, Kai! I can’t believe this!”

His attention was still glued to the canopy of leaves above us. “The whole island must be like this. . . .”

More glittering drew my attention to the path ahead of us. In every direction you looked there were plants of all kinds in every precious gem, stone, and metal you could think of: a bush of aquamarine and pearl roses, a tree littered with gold orchids, everything! Even the sand had gold particles in it! Gold—particles!

“Aw this place is unbelievable!" I beamed. "Think of all the stuff I could invent with these things!”

Across from me I spotted a ruby rose paired with a sapphire one. I practically darted toward them and plucked them out of the ground, and I marveled at the way they captured the light when I turned them. I bet Nya would love these!

I heard Kai finally start moving in a dazed way, and I turned around to see him locked onto a group of topaz tiger lilies. He squatted down to examine them a little more, and his hand slowly reached out to pick one. . . .

His fingers curled, and he squeezed his eyes shut as he turned his head. Abruptly he stood up and walked off. “All right let’s get back on track. The sooner we find the others the sooner we can get off this island.”

 

******Sensei's POV** ** **

We have washed up on a forbidden island whose name I have long forgotten. Nothing was as it seemed here, and I only hope that the others are careful should they be here.

“Hey these are pretty cool,” Lloyd commented. He placed his hands on his knees to analyze silver and gold pansies and tulips. “Really . . . cool. . . .” Entranced, he reached out to them.

“Don't, Lloyd!”

My nephew jerked his hand away and stood up immediately.

“This is a forbidden island. We cannot disturb anything here. If we do there will be dire consequences.”

“What kind of dire consequences, exactly?”

“If you want to find out, then pick one.”

Lloyd hardly needed a second to answer. “I uh, I don’t think I wanna take any chances.”

“Then let us keep searching.”

 

 

****Nya’s POV** **

“They have to be around here somewhere,” I said. The sun had begun to set, and we haven’t found any sign of the others or heard from the falcon. “Who knows _where_ they went?”

“Look!” Misako exclaimed. The rest of us spotted the falcon flying back to us.

“Eh hello? Can anyone hear me?”

“We hear you, Father,” Zane replied, and the mechanical bird landed on the earth head. “Have you found the others?”

“Well, uh, not exactly, but I did find an island they could be on. It may be a bit of a long journey, but I think there’s a good chance they just might be there.”

“Lead us there,” Garmadon said. “Who knows how much distance those three have made?”

 

**Blake's POV**

Janet glanced over her shoulder at her sister, who was still recovering from the stunt she had pulled earlier.

“Are we there yet?” Des breathed. The three of us dropped dangerously, and I could see Janet straining to keep us steady. Up ahead was a patch of land speedily approaching us.

“Just a little more. . . .” I said, resting a hand on her forearm.

I felt us slowing down and speeding up repeatedly like a train climbing a steep set of tracks.

“A little more. . . .”

Just when I thought we were going to splash down, we dropped onto solid ground. Spitting out sand, I pushed myself up, the Gold Ninja breathing heavily beside me. Off to my right was a shipwreck that seemed long since abandoned. Huh. . . .

“Stay here. You’ve both done enough for today.”

None of them protested as I got to my feet to inspect the tainted ship. As expected, there was no sign of animal life—only the waves against the dark beach filling the silence.

Approaching the ship, I ran my hand against the prow. The eyes of the dragon head were empty, desolate—just like the rest of the vessel. The sail was battered and torn, and several spots of the deck were in splinters. The glass windows of the bridge were entirely gone, but the wheel was still intact. Dead screens inside were cracked along with an almost untouched control panel. Sand even littered various sections of the ship. Whoever owned this ship must’ve crashed here, and there’s no doubt her crew is long since dead.

“Must’ve been a cool ship.”

I turned my head slightly at the sound of footsteps. Moments later Des appeared at my side. “Des, you’re supposed to be resting.”

“I can do that later. Now what are we supposed to do?”

Calmly, I faced her and placed my hands on her shoulders. “I want you to rest. Okay? Especially since you used all of that power. There’s nothing I want more than destroying those Ninjas with you, but there’s no point in doing that if you don’t have all of your strength.”

She tilted her head at me, a trace of a smile on her lips. “All right. I will—if you tell me what we’re supposed to do.”

“Persistent, aren’t you?”

Des smirked in accomplishment.

Sighing, I started to walk back to the shoreline. Passing Janet, my fingers brushed against Des’s, and surprisingly she hooked her fingers onto mine. My head twitched down to our hands in slight surprise, and she was quick to let go. Shoving what that tiny moment brought aside, we came to the shallowest part of the shoreline, and she mirrored me as I squatted down.

“You see how this part of the shore is darker than the rest of it? This is where you _really_ get your power from—the Dark Waters. Once you get control of it, you'll be able to manipulate and corrupt any water that's around, even in people, making you more powerful.”

“Huh. Sounds good to me.”

Both of us stood up, and she got into her position. Concentrating on the inky water, it remained as still as ever for the longest time until slowly, it began to rise up like molasses. As soon as she had it, the water plopped back down. Easily getting frustrated, she tried again. The water rose a bit more than last time, but she couldn't hold it for more than a few seconds. She growled in frustration. “It just takes practice. You'll get it.”

Des kept her eyes on the water, crossing her arms. “I bet I can get it before they get here.”

“Get some rest first.”

“Uh hello? What about me?” Janet asked, now sitting up.

I couldn’t help smiling. “You, have the most important job. But you’ll be preparing for that in the morning. For now, rest.”

That light was going out whether it likes it or not, and nothing is going to stop me.

 

 

****Zane's POV** **

We had landed on the island the falcon had found by nightfall, and the dragon was more than exhausted.

“That jungle looks like it goes in pretty deep,” Nya stated. “They could be anywhere on this island.”

“This is the Island of Forbidden Riches,” Garmadon said. “Nothing is to be disturbed here, no matter how tempting it is.” Cole, Nya, and I exchanged looks.

“Let's hope Jay didn't touch anything.”

Illuminating myself to provide light, we entered the forest with the dragon following close behind.

“Sensei? Lloyd? Anyone?” Cole called.

Garmadon was right—these plants were made of actual riches, and they appeared exceedingly tempting. The vegetation that caught my light provided for an extremely coaxing appearance.

“So, any idea where to start?”

“We could start by making camp,” Misako suggested. “We're going to need all our strength if we're to survive here. There are untold beasts here that guard each of the four sides of the island.”

“Well that certainly adds some charm to this place,” Nya replied with little enthusiasm.

Eventually we had come across a pair of tall peridot plants large enough to shield all of us.

“You did good today, boy,” Cole said. “Now go get some rest. You earned it.”

Without question the dragon settled down as I took my place outside of our shelter, dimming my light.

“I hope we can find the others before Blake, Janet, and Des get to the Dark Island. Judging by the looks of this place, this island is pretty huge. It'll take us days to find them!”

“Days that we don’t have,” Garmadon added. “We’ll need to be up extra early in order to find the rest of the team.”


	17. Influence

**Blake’s POV**

The first thing I saw when I woke up was the roof of the ship’s bridge. Every now and then I could hear the control panels buzz and spark. The ship would creak and groan occasionally, and the torn sail could be heard lightly flapping in the breeze. Overall the silence was calming, but something felt . . . off. . . .

Sitting up from a mat, I looked over my shoulder expecting to see both girls still asleep on two of the mattresses we were able to find. But one Ninja was missing.

I stood up to head out to the stairs overlooking the deck, which turned out to be empty. I scanned the port side of the ship to find a beach that was also empty. The sun wasn’t even out yet, but the sky was just barely beginning to brighten. Where could she have possibly gone. . . ?

_“I bet I can get it before they get here.”_

I glanced to my right to spot someone standing by the shore, and I resisted the urge to sigh. I skipped a few of the steps on my way down and made my way off the ship. Almost immediately the sound of waves against the shore hit me, and ahead of me the person was locked in focus. When I finally approached them, they still hadn’t noticed me.

“What are you doing up so early?”

The Dark Waters jerked out of her grip, and she sighed before shooting me a cold look. “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to start practicing.”

I crossed my arms. “Have you recovered completely?”

“I’m fine, Blake. Stop worrying about me.”

“Go back to the ship and I will.”

She balled her fists briefly. “I’m keeping a lookout. Those Ninjas aren’t going to get to my sister on my watch.”

“Then I’ll keep watch with you.”

She kept her attention glued to the ocean. “. . . Fine.” She sat down away from the Dark Waters with a huff, and I sat down next to her.

“This is pretty early for you, even when you were training.”

“I don’t care. I’m going to keep them away from her.”

As her focus deepened, I stole a glance to her. Her hair was in a messier bun than usual, and the silver shine her suit once had was now tainted and dimmed. I couldn’t help but picture her as how she looked before she was corrupted—elegant, fierce . . . amazing. . . . Now she was twice those things, maybe even more so.

“You’ve ever seen a sunrise?”

“No.”

I smiled. “Maybe this might be your chance to.”

The Ninja stifled a yawn. “If I can stay awake.”

I hummed an amused laugh, and we watched the sky brighten ever so slowly. Neither one of us spoke, however. We merely enjoyed each other’s company. But at one point, I felt her rest her head on my shoulder as she yawned. I hesitated to move my arm toward her, but I drew it back before she could notice.

When I finally noticed a change of color in the sky, I nudged her. Groaning, she raised her head, and her eyes widened at the sight before us. The golden sun had a pinkish purplish haze around it, and the clouds mimicked the sun. The sea acted as a mirror to the heavens, and the dark blue of the night was gradually being chased away.

“This is . . . really nice,” she finally said after a full minute. “I didn't think it would be this beautiful.”

“Well, now you’ve seen one,” I replied coolly.

Destiny glanced at me with a soft smile, resting back against the palms of her hands.

For a few minutes we watched it climb up the sky as time went by. I watched her close her eyes and bask in the first rays of the sun, and her suit managed to glint in the light.

“We should probably head back.”

I snapped my attention forward the second she opened her eyes.

“My sister’ll be up any minute.”

“Yeah, good idea.” I helped her to her feet and dusted myself off. “See you later, Des.”

In response she smiled at me, and she walked back to the ship as she dusted herself off. I couldn’t help but smirk slyly. I’d like to see Kai and his allies get in my way now. Once she has control over the Dark Waters and her sister is at her full potential, everything will become as my master has envisioned it.

 

**Zane's POV**

We had woken up earlier than usual to begin our search for the others, but it seems as though the chances of getting lost were increasing.

“I sure wish we had a map of this place,” Cole said. “I think we’ve passed by that tree before.”

“Technically that is a tree with rose _quartz_ hibiscuses. Not rose gold,” I replied.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a map of the island, would you?” Nya asked.

“I don’t, but I do remember having a scroll on a certain animal here,” Misako replied.

“Wait. Things actually live here?” Cole asked in disbelief.

“Legend says the animal was brought here by force, but no one knows how or by whom, or even why. It was seeking for something in particular, but that’s unknown as well.”

“So where is this thing, anyway?”

“Trapped within the Eastern Temple, but it is guarded by a powerful creature tasked to watch over its side of the island.”

Cole mused over this. "Well, if this animal is as important as the legend says it is, then we need to find it after we find the rest of the team."

“Misako, how long has it been here?” Garmadon asked.

“The scroll said it’s been here for many years,” Misako replied.

“Then there is no hope for him. He’s trapped here forever and now has the substances of the rest of the island.”

“So then . . . if we were to remain here for an extended amount of time, then does that mean _we_ will become like the rest of the island?” I asked.

“Which is why we need to move quickly.”

“But there's a loophole,” Nya said. “It was brought here by force, so maybe we can still save it.”

I began to go over the possibilities of Nya’s suggestion being correct. “I've checked the probabilities, and they are more than half. We may be able to save it.”

“Well if we're gonna go against a guardian, then we need to find the rest of the team,” Cole concluded.

 

**3rd** **person** **POV**

Deep within the jungle resides an ancient temple that harbors a creature unlike any had even seen before. Also inside that temple was an animal with rather unique properties.

The protector of the eastern side entered the part of the building where the beast was chained. He stopped in front of it and crouched down, meeting the prisoner’s cold glare.

 _You will never escape this prison, urchin,_ the protector spat.

The prisoner only growled in response.

_And I know who you are searching for. I see it in your eyes. You seek for the Ninja of Silver._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I listened to "Across the Stars" from Star Wars while I was writing the scene at the beginning between Blake and Des. It actually fits them pretty well.


	18. Disturbances

**Destiny’s POV**

I've been trying to move the Dark Waters for a long time now, and I was starting to get impatient. The faster I can get this the faster I can take the Ninjas down. But this stupid water isn’t cooperating with me!

I took a deep breath and concentrated on the water. I put as much focus as I could into it, and slowly, some of it began to rise. But it was as slow as molasses.

“You're almost there,” Blake encouraged.

I focused harder, and the water rose a few more inches. “Come on. . . . Come on. . . .”

As the water was rising, my mind began to wander. I thought back to my dad training me. Both my sister and I trained hard, but when we figured out we could control elements, Mom and Dad had some . . . conflicting feelings. Although Janet and I were excited, we had to keep it to ourselves. But that didn’t mean we didn’t practice amongst each other.

I drifted to my training with the boys, and eventually I stopped at the Fire Ninja.

Ohhh I _hate that guy!_

My concentration wavered, and I vainly tried to keep it only for the water to slump back down. I _had it_ , but that stupid Spike just— _ugh!_

I felt just about ready to punch someone when Blake placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Easy there Des. You'll get it.”

I huffed a sigh before I turned to look directly into his dark gray eyes. “You're rather patient with me, aren't you?”

Blake only smirked. “Just keep trying, and I’ll be right back.”

 

**Blake’s POV**

After Des focused again, I turned around to see Janet standing there with her arms crossed.

“You done yet?” she asked, unfazed by my surprised flinch.

“Yes. Now follow me.”

She was quick to do as told. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere where you can gain more power.”

“Which is where?”

“In the forest.”

“What’s in the forest?”

“Power.”

“What kind of power?”

“Patience.”

Janet rolled her eyes. “You sound like Wu.”

I resisted the urge to growl. “Just trust me.” The faster we get this done the faster we’ll defeat the Ninjas.

She was about to retaliate when suddenly a frustrated yell rang out behind us. She was the first one to bolt toward Des, and I soon followed after her. The closer we got, the more we could see Des dropping down to one knee.

“Des! Let it go!” Janet shouted as we reached her side, but her sister ignored her.

A silver mist that was beginning to form over the Dark Waters was turning purple, and Des dropped to her other knee. “Almost . . . there. . . .”

“It’s corrupting you! You need to—”

I grasped Janet’s shoulder, and she glared at me the next instant. Her eyes flickered between purple and green for an instant, and it was hard to keep my shock under wraps. That light is beginning to overpower the dark matter. I need to work faster.

We both watched Des push herself to her feet, and soon the silver mist had become purple. The water rose faster and faster, and before long she was able to shape it into a whip.

“Nice job, Des,” I praised. “I told you you’d get it.”

The Silver Ninja maneuvered the water with ease and thrust it toward a bush. When it made contact, the bush steamed up and disintegrated. Janet, on the other hand, was straining to hide her worry.

“You were right, Blake. I do feel more powerful,” Des stated with a wicked grin. “I can't wait to test it out on those Ninjas.”

 

 

****Kai’s POV** **

“Senseeeeiiii!” Jay called. “Llooooyyyd! Anyone?!”

“Rrr, could you keep it down?” I complained.

“Well excuse me if I wanna get off this rock.”

I merely sighed in response. I’m surprised he hasn’t lost his voice by now.

I wiped my forehead with my sleeve. “We’ve been walking for hours and there’s still no sign of anyone. I bet they’ve already reached the Dark Island by now.”

Jay stopped in front of a malachite-leaved tree before rubbing his chin. “Have we passed this tree already?”

I growled again. “This is so frustrating!”

“Hey, all I asked was a simple question.”

“Not that. _This._ ” I gestured widely to our surroundings. “I can’t think straight with all these stones and jewels everywhere.”

_THUD!_

Both of us tensed.

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Jay said warily as the vibrations continued.

We both scanned the area.

“You think it’s an earthquake?” I asked.

Suddenly a gigantic thing crawled out of the ground, making us both jump back. The further it climbed out, the further we had to tilt our heads back, and soon its shadow was shrouding us.

Jay let out a squeak as it dropped onto all six of its massive legs. Its beady black eyes seemed to drill into us, and its slightly yellowed teeth glinted in the sunlight. It was a hideous hybrid of a crocodile and a beetle, and the thing was nearly more than half the size of the Bounty.

“Heh. Some earthquake, huh?” Jay meekly joked.

“Who has disturbed the vegetation of this island?” he interrogated in an incredibly deep voice, its antennas twitching in irritation.

I swallowed nervously. “Uhh. . . .”

From the corner of my eye, I caught something glinting from Jay’s pocket, and the creature’s huge eyes darted to Jay.

“ _You_ ,” the beast snapped. “Reveal what you have stolen.”

The Blue Ninja was frozen in place, the creature’s stare unblinking.

“Jay, give him what you stole,” I muttered slowly.

With a shaky hand, he fished out two roses. “Uhh, heh heh. Nice, umm . . . creature thing. Uhh, here you go.” He unsteadily placed the flowers on the ground in front of the beast.

“I am no ordinary creature!” the beast bellowed. “I am the Guardian of the Northern Side, and you will pay for what you have stolen!”

He slowly stood on his hind legs, and that’s when we decided to run.

“You just _had_ to touch something, didn’t you?!” I snapped.

“I thought Nya would like them!” Jay snapped back.

“Yeah. My sister would totally go for forbidden plants! Augh, I _knew_ we weren’t supposed to touch anything!”

“Oh well you could’ve _warned me!_ ”

 

**Lloyd's POV**

“They could be anywhere,” I said. We've come across dozens of rivers, mini forests (why a forest within a forest, I don’t know), and about a bazillion different kinds of flowers and plants. It took all of my self-control to not touch anything.

“What if we don’t find them before Janet and Des make it to the Dark Island?”

“Patience, my nephew,” Sensei said. “We will find them soon enough. As for Janet and Destiny, I fear they may have already reached the island. But we must not lose hope. We will find a way to—”

Two screams in the distance interrupted my uncle, and we both looked to each other.

“That sounds like Kai and Jay! We have to help them!” I exclaimed.

We bolted in the direction of the screams as I pulled my hood down.

“We can’t outrun that thing!” Kai exclaimed.

“Of course we can’t!” Jay replied just as loud. “You wanna know why?! _Because it can_ _fly!_ ”

“Thing? Something lives here?” I asked.

“Four somethings,” Uncle replied gravely. “There are four guardians for each of the four sides of the island. Kai and Jay must have disturbed one of them.”

Suddenly the suits of Kai and Jay burst into the view, and behind them was a massive . . . uh . . . I don’t know what to call it.

“Lloyd! Sensei! Ruuuun!” Jay screamed.

“It’s right behind us!” Kai warned.

Before we had any chance to react they jerked us along with them, and I stole a glimpse over my shoulder at the beast. Its scarab beetle shell was open, revealing wings the size of helicopter blades. It had four powerful croc legs and two insect legs, and its horned half-crocodile snout tried to snap at us. The distorted and livid hiss that followed sent chills down my spine.

“You can’t run forever, trespassers!” it roared.

“Uh Sensei? Which guardian is that?” I asked.

“The Protector of the Northern Side!” he replied, holding on to his hat.

“Well how do we get it off our tails?!” Kai asked.

A blur of yellow and black suddenly blocked our path, making us stop. The deafening hum of the protector’s wings drew closer to us, and the ground shook when it landed. The blur turned out to be a gold cheetah with black diamonds for spots, its tail twitching back and forth. The cat was big enough for two people to ride on, and it was eyeing us like we were dinner.


	19. The Cheetah

**Lloyd's POV**

The guardian began to chuckle, one that was deep, gruff, and with a hint of a rattling noise. “You were impossible to bring here, and yet here you are. We cross paths once more.”

The cheetah hissed in reply.

“You were always the kind to battle until the end, much like the one you seek.”

“What’s he talking about?” Jay asked in a whisper.

“Nothing of concern to you. Your permanent payment shall be given in due time. But first we must finish the battle we have never completed.”

In response the cheetah lunged at the creature, making us duck down to avoid its enormous tail as it knocked the protector over. Compared to the hybrid, the cheetah didn’t seem to stand a chance, yet here it was clawing away at his head and face.

Kai sighed in relief. “We finally found you guys.”

“Good to see you guys are all right,” I said.

“Okay everybody happy now? Great, now let's go before we all end up dinner for _that thing_ _!_ ” Jay stressed.

“We can’t just leave him to fight that thing alone!”

“Sure we can. It’s called running away.”

“The cheetah’s looking for someone, so they have to be important,” Kai argued. “Maybe they might be able to help us with Janet and Des.”

“Um have you _not_ seen the size of that thing?!”

“Lloyd and Kai are right,” Sensei said. “It may be able to aid us.”

Jay just looked at us with an unamused expression. “Oh I hate it when you guys are right.”

The guys and I pulled our hoods down. “Ninjaaa-GO!”

 

**Sensei's POV**

“Jay, distract him while Lloyd and I get it from behind!" Kai ordered.

The Ninja of Lightning grumbled something to himself before he inhaled. “Hey wise guy! I’m still here!”

After throwing the cheetah off of him, the protector snapped his attention to Jay as the Blue Ninja was dancing. Immediately he thundered toward Jay, who stopped in mid-moonwalk and darted off. He bolted up a tree at the speed of lightning, and the creature rammed right into it. Moments later Jay pushed off the tree and landed by me.

“Now!” I yelled.

My students fired their elements at the protector while I performed Spinjitzu from the side. It hissed vehemently at the might of their powers, and it raised its tail to counter.

"Look out!" Lloyd warned.

Everyone jumped to the side as the tail came down, and the cheetah seized the opportunity to bite the right hind leg of the beast. The protector howled in pain and attempted to shake him off, but his grip was like iron. It furiously snapped and bucked around, and the boys fired at the beast every moment they could.

With the might of the cheetah’s bite and the strength of fire, lightning, and the Green Ninja, it had no choice but to surrender.

“RRRAAAHH! Curse you! Curse you all!” the protector spat. “You may have won this time, but be warned of my siblings, for they are far more powerful than me!”

The cheetah finally let go, and with a throaty growl the creature took off deeper into the jungle. All of us watched it until it was entirely gone from sight, and we lowered our guards. The cat, however, chose to lick its wounds.

“Hooh! Am I glad that thing is gone!” Jay said as he and the other two Ninjas removed their hoods.

“You all worked as a team,” I said. “Good work.”

Suddenly the cheetah’s ears twitched up, and it whirled around to face us.

“Great. Now we have to deal with this guy, too?” Kai complained.

The cat growled at him as it focused on me.

“Careful, Sensei,” Jay warned in a near whisper.

It stalked its way to me as it sniffed the air. I remained alert yet relaxed as it neared me, and I met its firm gaze with my own.

“No one—do absolutely _anything_ ,” Lloyd said slowly.

The tip of the cat’s tail twitched, and several moments went by before it bowed down, purring.

“I . . . think he likes you,” Kai concluded, puzzled.

The cheetah snarled at him again.

“I believe ‘he’ is actually a she,” I corrected.

She purred again to agree.

“Maybe she thinks we can help,” my nephew suggested.

“But how do we know what she’s looking for?” Jay asked.

Her head turned to the east.

“Well there’s only one way to find out,” Kai said.

“Ah! There you are! Thank goodness you four are all right.”

We looked above us to see a familiar friend.

“Zane’s falcon!” Kai exclaimed.

“It’s good to hear from you, Dr. Julien,” I greeted. “Are the others close?”

“Only a couple of miles away. Just follow me!” the falcon replied.

The cheetah cocked its head at the mechanical bird before glancing over its shoulder toward the east.

“If we find our team first we’ll be able to help out a little more,” Lloyd said.

Seeming to agree, she slipped underneath him before standing up.

“Wooaah! Uh a little warning would’ve been nice.”

“Hey uh, can we get a ride?” Jay asked, hopeful.

But she merely walked to me and waited for me to mount her.

Jay crossed his arms. “Oh. Okay. So now you have favorites.”

“Ha, ha, ha. Jealous?” Lloyd said smugly.  



	20. Eastward Bound

**Cole’s POV**

It was high noon, and Misako was on the Ultra Dragon with Nya, who had been stung by this huge iron wasp that I am so glad are _not_ back on Ninjago. Luckily there was an antidote that could be made with one of the very few plants that could be picked—zinc poppies. Garmadon and Misako said it would take a couple of hours for it to kick in. I just hope the antidote works before the poison does. . . .

Suddenly Zane stopped in his tracks.

“Zane?” I asked.

“The falcon has spotted the others!”

“Really? How far are they?”

“Not far. This way!” Eagerly, he led the way to the rest of the team.

“Jay! Kai! It’s me, Cole!”

In reply, Jay, Kai, and Lloyd yelled in surprise.

“A WASP!? Wasps aren’t supposed to be that big!” Jay screamed. Oh great— _another_ one.

“It's too fast!” Kai protested. “Someone get that thing!”

“Lloyd! It's me!” Garmadon called.

“Dad? We’re over here!” Lloyd replied.

“Don’t let it touch you!” Sensei warned.

“Wait I got—” Kai started. “. . . Did she just . . . eat that thing?”

“Well at least it’s gone,” Jay said.

_Who’s “she”?_

“Hey it’s Cole!”

“Sensei!” Zane and I yelled.

“Guys!” the rest of the boys said as we met in the middle.

Lloyd glanced over his dad’s shoulder as he was hugging him. “Where’s Nya?”

“Over here,” Misako called.

The boys came over to the dragon to see Nya unconscious.

“What happened to my sister?!” Kai demanded.

“Nya will be fine,” Garmadon answered calmly. “But right now she needs her rest. That antidote needs to do its work.”

The fire head nudged Kai in reassurance, and he pet the dragon head’s snout with an unreadable expression.

“And who is this?” Misako asked.

I followed her line of sight to a gold cheetah with black diamonds for spots. Maybe that’s the creature that was supposed to be in the Eastern Temple. And somehow it must’ve escaped. Well, I guess that’s that, then.

“A friend that helped us in our time of need,” Sensei replied, and the cheetah puffed out its chest in pride.

Almost a second later, it took a more serious position as its ears twitched, its tail flicking back and forth. Facing east, it sniffed the air, and its ears flattened against its skull as it lowly growled. Suddenly it let out a roar, and a few moments past before a desperate howl replied.

“What's she doing?” Lloyd asked.

“Calling to her friend.”

The cheetah and the creature in the east then sounded together.

“Perhaps the prisoner in the Eastern Temple is her friend,” Zane suggested. I stand corrected.

“Then what are we waiting for?” I asked. “Let's go get ‘em!”

 

**Zane's POV**

The cheetah waited for Lloyd and Sensei to mount her before the rest of us mounted the dragon. Strictly galloping east, she led the way with the dragon close behind.

“I’ve tried to distinguish her friend’s call, but there are too many possibilities as to which animal it belongs to,” I reported.

“Uhh quick question,” Cole started. “What exactly does this Eastern Guardian look like?"

“I don’t think anyone’s ever laid eyes on it, but some say it’s very aggressive and fierce,” Misako explained. “We need to be cautious if we’re to encounter it.”

“Aggressive and fierce,” Jay repeated. “Huh. Sounds like Kai.”

“Ha ha, very funny,” Kai said, everyone laughing. Despite this, his mood quickly changed to one of heavy concern as he glanced over to Nya. “Don’t worry, sis. You’re gonna be just fine.”

All of a sudden the cheetah lurched to a stop, making the Ultra Dragon skid to a stop as well.

“What’s the holdup?” Jay asked. He stood up and peered over the dragon heads, and I followed his gaze to a hissing chasm. “Snakes? Seriously?”

“Bronze snakes,” Sensei corrected.

“And a lot of them, too,” Lloyd added.

And surely enough, I could spot nearly hundreds of slim snakes snapping and slithering all over each other. One even leapt up in an attempt to snap at the feline.

“Snakes . . . I hate snakes,” Cole muttered.

The ice head looked to the cheetah with a hum, and she drew her head back in skepticism. The earth head roared softly in encouragement, and with an annoyed grunt she reluctantly faced forward with taut muscles.

Just as the dragon was about to take off, a snake tried to nip at the fire head. Within the next instant he melted the snakes into a pool of bronze, the lightning head rolling his eyes at the notion.

Seemingly satisfied, the dragon rose from the ground and hovered over the cat, and he gently picked her up before flying across the chasm. After setting her down, he landed next to her and allowed us to dismount, Misako choosing to stay. And before us stood the Eastern Temple.

It was entirely built from bronze and decorated with silver linings. If one looked closely, they would be able to pick out the intricate silver patterns of wind and ocean currents. Two giant pillars stood by the entrance, each supporting the angled roof. Emerald vines and ivy curled along the entire structure, and from deep inside were the sounds of annoyed growling and barking as well as something heavy scraping against metal.

“This place is amazing. . . .” Cole breathed.

“Whoever built this temple must have quite the eye for design,” I said.

Just then Nya began to stir from on the dragon.

“Ugh. . . . What . . . happened?” Nya groaned.

“Nya!” Kai exclaimed, and he was followed by Jay and the others. “I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“Hey guys. Um, when did we get together again?”

“A while ago, actually,” I replied.

Misako helped her dismount before doing so herself.

“Well, it’s good to see everyone again,” Nya said. “Let’s just hope I remember to bring bug spray next time.”

The cheetah stood in front of the enormous doors. As if sensing her presence, the doors opened inwardly.

“Stay here, boy,” Lloyd said. “We might need a quick getaway if anything gets out of hand.”

All four heads nudged him as the falcon went to perch on the ice head, and we all followed the cheetah inside.

The hall was dimly lit with torches of bronze fire, and the vines and ivy provided for an eerie decoration. Once we were all inside, the doors groaned to a close, making Jay hop and leaving us in near darkness.

“Great. Now we’re stuck here with no way out!” he said.

“That _is_ our way out,” I said.

“Oh that’s great, Zane! Just great.”

“You _have_ been in tighter situations before, Jay,” Nya reminded.

“Hey, I call ‘em as I see ‘em.”

Our footsteps were the only noise in the temple aside from the growling. The sound of metal scraping against itself travelled throughout the building, the flickering of the torches always making their presence known in the daunting atmosphere.

At the edge of the fire’s light, long objects curved in several different directions could be seen on the ground, and I was beginning to have a “sinking feeling” about what those objects were.

“I dunno about you guys, but I’m not liking the looks of this place,” Nya said, her shoulders tense.

_CRACK!_

I glanced down to spot a dry, brittle-looking rib under my foot, and a shudder coursed through me. Littering the floor were the bones of small animals and medium-sized ones, some appearing recent, others seeming to have been here for years. Whichever one of the residents that consumed these creatures unnerved me. Perhaps it was both of them.

“I hope this guy doesn’t eat people,” Kai said, unease in his voice.

The scraping and growling suddenly stopped, making all of us halt in our place. Next to me were well-concealed doors, but it seemed as though the only room available was a lit room up ahead.

“The creature must know we’re here,” Garmadon replied.

“Zane? Anything?” Nya asked.

“A-according to my readings, if we continue on this path our chances of survival will only decrease,” I nervously stated.

“We’ve come this far,” Sensei said. “We can’t turn back now.”

“Hey, I think I can see something in that room,” Cole said.

The cheetah trotted toward the room, and our footsteps became thunderous against the bronze floor.

My eyes quickly adjusted to the even dimmer lighting of the room, and I could make out more vines and ivy clinging to the walls. In the center of the room was a figure on a raised stone platform. With lowered head and hackles raised, was a silver wolf.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm looking over this chapter for grammatical mistakes and whatnot and I decided to listen to "Listen to the Cries of the Planet" from FFVII. I get to the part where the team reaches the Eastern Temple and I'm like, "Wow this totally sets the mood perfectly."


	21. Guardian of Earth and Wind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I came back from a trip a few days ago and kind of wanted to chill. Lots of walking in sweltering heat is terrible. That's why there haven't been any new chapters.  
> Anyway, I'm back so onward!

**Lloyd's POV**

The wolf was the same size as the cheetah, maybe even a little bigger, and it seemed to blend in with the silver torches on either side of it.

Suddenly its ears straightened and its head snapped up. Intense blue eyes stared into us as we stared right back, and I kind of felt a little intimidated just by its gaze.

“This is no ordinary creature, is it?” Zane inquired.

“Now that it’s been turned to silver, no.” Misako replied.

The wolf growled at us for a minute before stopping, laying its eyes on the cheetah. Sensei was nudged forward by the cat, and the wolf lowered its head to sniff him. Once again, he remained calm as he tilted his head up at the canine.

“What _is_ it about Sensei that they like so much?” Jay asked in a whisper.

The wolf pulled at the restraints again, and Kai stepped forward only to be snarled at. He slowly reached for his Fire Sword, and the wolf sniffed his sleeve. Seconds later, it whimpered.

“You must have something to do with who he’s looking for,” Misako said.

“Well who’s he—”

The wolf growled, leading Kai to roll his eyes.

“Who’s _she_ looking for?”

“We’ll find out once we get her out of here,” Nya said. Just as Kai was about to cut the chains, low thuds shook the ground.

“That—does not sound good,” Jay said.

The thumping continued, gradually getting louder and louder. As an enormous figure emerged, we all backed up as the Eastern Guardian stalked out of the shadows. Its own massive shadow seemed to swallow up any light we had, but its steel wings trimmed with bronze still glinted in the fire. The tip of the slim tail was titanium as well as its talons and claws. Its lion legs had a bronze pelt, and the beak was a shiny gold. Black eyes almost identical to the Northern Guardian’s eyed us with a livid gaze, and I couldn’t help but wonder if we had bitten off more than we could chew.

Flapping its wings, it clawed the ground as its laugh echoed within my mind.

These _are your heroes?!_ it mocked, her powerful voice almost too much for my head.

The cheetah snarled at the guardian, causing the creature to look down at her.

_I had you in my grasp, right where I wanted you, but your companion sacrificed herself to take your place. Such a brave deed, yet none of you petty beings will escape._ The hybrid looked to Cole. _Earth—one of my elements. You will be my next prisoner, youngling._

“I don’t think so, guardian!” Cole shot.

The cheetah lunged at the guardian, and the guys and I slipped our hoods on before splitting up. I helped Kai cut the chains off the wolf as Nya and Misako had our backs. The guys fired their elements, but Cole’s earth was just absorbed by the guardian.

“Aw seriously?! What gives?!”

_Your earth is useless against me, youngling!_

“Keep fighting! Ninjas never quit!” I encouraged.

The guardian flapped her huge wings, and the torches swelled as sharpened bones flew toward us. The team was thrown back as Misako and Nya pulled Kai and me down.

“Why won’t they cut?!” Kai asked impatiently. “It’s like they're made out of steel!”

“That's because they are!” Nya answered.

Kai set his sword on fire and slowly began to cut through the metal, the wolf’s hackles and ears raised as she eyed the fight. The right chain dropped just as the one I was working on did, but an eagle’s cry merged with a lion’s roar rang out. We all covered our ears while the cheetah pawed at her ears, the wolf barking in distress and flattening her ears.

 

********Jay's POV** ** ** **

“How you guys doing?!” I called.

“Halfway there!” Lloyd called back.

I shot lightning at the guardian’s torso, making it screech again in pain. “Ha! How’s that for a shocking sensation?!”

_You will never defeat me, urchins!_ she yelled. She swung her heavy tail under us and swept us all off our feet. _Hah. Good one, Jay._

“Ninjaa-GO!” Cole shouted. The second he made contact with her eagle leg, she flicked him away. His sword slipped out of his hand as he slid down the wall. “Okay. . . . That went better in my head. . . .”

A fierce growl cut through the air as the wolf joined the battle, chomping and munching on the left wing of the guardian. She shrieked again and tried to claw at the wolf, but the cheetah jumped onto the beast and bit her head. Sensei and Garmadon performed Spinjitzu as Kai, Zane, Cole, Lloyd, and I all shot at the Eastern Guardian’s chest. She soared into the wall of the room and slammed her wings against it, but the cheetah was still holding on to the head.

“Hah! How’s that for some urchins?” Kai taunted.

Enraged, the guardian’s feathers ruffled up. _ENOUGH!_

We gripped our heads as the griffin shook the cheetah off of her. She heaved herself to her feet as we tried to get ourselves together.

_YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT ME! NONE OF YOU WILL! YOU WILL ALL BE MY PRISONERS!_

“She’s overloading my system!” Zane shouted.

“She’s overloading _all_ our systems!” I exclaimed.

“We need to leave this place. . . !” Sensei grunted. “Now!”

We pulled ourselves to our feet as the wolf practically threw Kai and Nya onto her back. The guardian was about to extent her wings when she yowled, slowly tucking her wings in.

“Her wings! She can’t fly!” Kai exclaimed.

“That should buy us some time,” Garmadon stated. “Quickly!”

Lloyd was scooped up by the cheetah as Garmadon placed Misako on her, and we all darted off as fast as we could.

The guardian’s distorted scream slowed us down, and her giant footsteps echoed throughout the hall.

“She may not be able to fly, but she can still run!” Cole exclaimed. “Run for it!”

Zane dared to glance over his shoulder at the doorway. “Just because she can run, it doesn’t necessarily mean that she can reach us.”

“Of course she can!” Jay yelled.

“The doorway’s too small for her.”

_THUD!_

“Ohh but that’s not stopping her!” Nya warned.

“Someone open the door!” Kai shouted.

The Ultra Dragon’s roar was heard from outside as the thuds from behind us just got louder and louder. The doors took their time opening up, and I had to squint at the light from outside.

“Hurry up hurry up hurry up!” I yelled.

By the time we were barreling toward them they were open just enough for us to go single file. The falcon cawed twice as the wolf easily jumped onto the dragon’s back. As everyone soared up to the saddle, the cheetah leapt on, and Lloyd flew to the reigns.

The dragon took off within a heartbeat, and the guardian’s enraged scream could still be heard even as we were flying above the trees.

“That was a close one,” Zane said.

“Yeah. _Way_ too close,” Kai said, plopping back.

“You’re telling _me_ ,” I added.

“I hope we never have to come back here,” Lloyd said.

“Yeah. I doubt we’ll have a welcoming party if we do,” Cole said.

“At least we can focus on what we really came for now.”

“Next stop—the Dark Island!” Nya announced.


	22. Inner Conflict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A smidgeon of an idea on what light is exactly within Janet.

**Blake’s POV**

In no time those Ninjas won’t stand a chance against us. Destiny has mastered the Dark Waters, and it won’t be long before the light within Janet is fully extinguished. Then I’ll finally be able to finish what he started.

As expected, I spotted Des practicing with the Dark Waters with increasing ease. Ever since she’s mastered them she spends a lot of time there, but despite that, she’s been looking distracted all day.

“Hello, Destiny. You're looking nice today,” I greeted.

I caught a sigh from her before she briefly looked over her shoulder. “I’ve had this suit on for about three days now, but thank you anyways.” Her attention resumed to the Waters while I continued to watch her.

She gently waved her arms to the right and balanced on one leg, the Waters obeying her every command. After taking a step back, she switched sides at a faster pace. Like the element she could control, her movements were fluid. “You have something you wanna say or are you just gonna watch me?”

I briefly shook my head with a blink. “Not really. I’m just amazed at your progress.”

She flashed a smirk of satisfaction. “Flattery is really all you got, isn’t it?”

“You know I have so much more to offer. I’m just expressing the truth.”

“Mmhmm.”

I placed a hand on her shoulder. “You know I’ll never let anything happen to you, Des, right?”

A soft, genuine smile graced me. “And neither will I.”

Her arms lowered, and her eyes went downcast as a distant look overtook them. With hands curled into fists, the Waters actually darkened for a moment as her eyes found their way to the horizon. “Janet’s up to something. I know she is.”

I refrained from squeezing her shoulder. “I know. She’s clever, and we have to keep a close eye on her.”

“Then why did you leave her _alone?_ ”

 

**Janet’s POV**

Last time I checked, I could train myself. But no. I had to listen to Mr. Mini Dark Lord.

Sighing, I glanced down below me for what felt like the hundredth’s time. Even with the pool of dark matter below me, I could still spot my silhouette. This was totally a bright idea.

I slowly exhaled as I concentrated on keeping myself afloat. Even after all this time training by myself, I could feel the strain in my mind and body. What’s he even doing over there, anyways?

_'You_ must _come to your senses.'_

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked to my left. “Who’s there?”

_'There are more things at stake than the successor’s plan. This is a battle you_ must _win.'_

I growled as I looked around. “Show yourself! Who are you?!”

_'An ally.'_

“Then why are you in my head?”

_'This is the only way we can communicate.'_

My eyes scanned the area. Okay. I’ll play along. “. . . What else is at stake?”

_'Look within yourself. See through the deception of the dark matter. You_ must _fight back.'_

“And why should I listen to you? For all I know you’re probably working with the Ninjas.”

There was silence for a few moments. ' _You care for your sister, do you not?'_

“Of course I do.”

_'Then do it for her if not for me.'_

I thought back to Des seizing control of the Dark Waters. Something about what Blake was doing was _wrong._ It still is. And I don’t like how the Waters affected her. I don’t care what he said.

Closing my eyes as I let out a breath, I tried to imagine what it would be like to look within myself. Maybe I would see a door. Or maybe I would see myself. Or I might not even _see_ anything.

Suddenly everything under my eyelids went black, and it took everything in me not to open my eyes. _Focus, Janet. Just do what the voice in your head told you to do no matter how crazy it might be._

As I maintained my focus, I began to feel a coldness brush against me. I felt colder and colder the longer I concentrated, but I kept my focus. A sort of foreign noise that seemed to be coming from the dark matter was just scarcely out of earshot. Then it got louder.

And louder.

And louder.

And louder.

Until it turned into screeching.

I squeezed my eyes tighter as the noise intensified. It felt like some creature was screaming right in my ear.

The cold began to bite at my skin, making me draw back. Instantly the temperature rose, and I felt tempted to just drop everything and retreat. Everything was warmer away from the cold, and the banshee-like cries would go away if I just opened my eyes. . . .

But way beyond those things was a kind of warmth. It was like it was encouraging me to press on.

This is crazy. I’m listening to a voice in my head that could be the enemy!

But . . . what was the source of that warmth? And that voice?

I guess there’s only one way to find out.

Taking a breath, I powered through the bitter cold and unbearable cries. I felt myself grit my teeth as everything bore down on me. My ears began to ring as I felt icy teeth gnash at me, but I steeled my will against it. I’m going through with this, no matter what.

“Janet.”

Words caught in my throat as I felt the warmth, the light. I reached out to it, and I felt empowered, stronger, like I could never stop for anyone or anything.

“Janet!”

A miniscule gold light captured my attention before the voice outside could snatch it back, and I extended my mind out to it as much as I could. It grew bigger and bigger, and the figure of a man was beginning to take shape.

_Who are you?_ I thought.

Soon I reached a point where I could just barely pick out his features. His hair was pulled back and hung down behind him. He sported a rice hat and a sword of white hot flames, giving off a literal golden aura of immense power and strength. But besides that, I had a feeling he also held vast wisdom.

A clawed purple hand dared to take him within its grasp, but he effortlessly sliced through it, revealing the source of the screeching. A fist plastered itself against the flat part of the blade, and he shoved it back with little effort.

Although his attention was still glued to the surrounding darkness, his head turned to the side, and I could see part of a drooping mustache.

_'You know what you must do.'_ Even his voice carried wisdom!

I was baffled at what I was seeing. This needs to _mean_ something. I need answers to this! _Who are you?_

_'Soon, you will know.'_

“ _Janet!_ ”

The brunt of his sword swing produced a bright flash of light, and I opened my eyes with a sharp gasp. I was back where I was, and miraculously I was still hovering perfectly.

“Earth to sister!” Des called. “Didn’t you hear Blake?”

“He’s hard to ignore,” I practically grumbled.

There was silence behind me.

“I need you to do something,” Blake said.

“And I need you to answer something,” I countered.

The blonde kept his mouth shut, solidifying my suspicions of him steaming back there.

“It’s important.”

“What is it?”

He said that pretty quickly. Too quickly. “Why does Des need to control the Dark Waters?”

“To use her powers to their fullest extent.”

“Is that _really_ the reason?”

Blake let out a bitter laugh. “You’ve been asking a lot of questions. Too many questions.” He took a few steps forward. “What are you up to?”

_“You know what you must do.”_ “Something you’re probably not going to like.”

I shot up with a burst of air and swiveled around to thrust my fist toward them, releasing streams of lightning. Two streams of fire boosted me forward, but something forced me to close my hands. And suddenly the world began to rush past me as I plummeted toward the pit.

Only for a tendril of water to grapple onto me.

I was centimeters away from the dark matter, and I began to squirm as I rose.

Des gradually came into view, and her expression was the definition of pain.

“Let me go! We’re on the same side!”

“No, we’re not.” Her shoulders tensed. “I can’t believe you would . . . you would _do_ this! We are _all_ we have. How could you just . . . just. . . .” She shut her eyes as she turned her head away.

Blake glowered at me with a livid expression. “Get rid of her.”

The water hurled me toward the other wall of the pit, and I had seconds to react before I was done for.

Fire emitted from my hands, and I pushed myself to raise myself away from the dark matter. Gradually, I began to pull Des toward the edge. She dug her heels in as Blake pulled her back by the shoulders. The temptation to close my hands yanked at me from the inside, and I grunted as I fought against Des’s might.

_“There are more things at stake than the successor’s plan. This is a battle you_ must _win.”_

The strenuous effort I was putting in caused a breeze to pick up, but a jerk from the other side ceased it instantly.

“I’ve waited this out for _long enough!_ ” Blake barked. “That light will be destroyed even if it kills me!”

Unwillingly my hands began to close, and I struggled to keep them open. A strained yell tore from me as I let out a giant burst of air. Instantly Des and Blake were shoved back, and I desperately lurched myself to the other side. My breathing was labored as I wearily turned to face my sister and Blake. She and I just stared at each other before I floundered to my feet and bolted off. I can’t fight her. I won’t.

“There’s no way off this island, Gold Ninja! Don’t you dare think you’re going to get away!”


	23. Arriving to Fight

**Kai’s POV**

I miss having those two around, especially Des. And if Blake even tries anything funny, I’m gonna make sure he regrets it.

“Land ho!” Nya announced.

Fast approaching us was the Dark Island in all its gloomy glory. A brown and red mass on the beach caught my eye, and I squinted to get a better look at it.

“It’s the Bounty!” Dr. Julien pointed out.

Even from here I could tell that it was far from taking off or sailing ever again. Immediately my mind dug up all the times we thought it was lost or destroyed only to find it again. That ship’s been tossed around so much since we’ve had it.

“I can’t believe it,” Cole admitted. “It looks as terrible as it did when we first found it.”

“Heh. No kidding,” Lloyd mumbled.

“You say something?” Jay asked.

“N-nothing. Just . . . thinking out loud, that’s all. Heh.” Although I was curious about the small frown on his face, I decided not to pry.

“Now that we’re on the island,” Garmadon started, snapping us out of our grievances, “we should be making our way to the Temple of Light. Legend has it the light matter might be located there.”

“Then let’s get going,” I urged.

The beach swept under us as the Ultra Dragon began to soar over the jungle, and I couldn’t help but look back at the Bounty. Maybe after all this is over we could restore it back to its former glory. . . .

“So this light matter,” Cole started. “How does that stuff work?”

“Similar to the dark matter, one must be in contact with it in order for it to work,” Misako answered.

“Let’s hope it works just as fast as the dark matter,” Lloyd said over his shoulder.

The rest of the flight was quiet after that. Along with the cheetah and the wolf, I kept my eyes glued to the ground for any sign of those three. But there was nothing but foliage and dirt.

“It’s pretty quiet out here—what are you _doing?!_ ”

At Cole’s outburst I jerked my attention to him just as the tips of the cheetah’s and wolf’s tails disappeared over the side. Lloyd yanked back on the reins in surprise.

“You can’t just jump off of a dragon like that!”

“Why not? We used to jump off the Bounty all the time,” Jay pointed out.

“Well . . . that’s . . . that’s different!”

“It appears our furry friends have found something,” Zane justified calmly.

Everyone looked over the side to see them sniffing the ground. Just barely I could spot indentations in the ground.

“Footprints! And they seem to follow different directions.”

The wolf barked up at us.

“I have a feeling those guys are looking for who we’re looking for,” Cole concluded.

“Then I’m following that wolf,” I said, getting ready to jump. “Maybe she might be able to find Destiny.”

“And you’re not going without me,” Nya added.

“I guess I’ll follow the cheetah, then,” Lloyd said. “Anyone else wanna join?”

“Go with him, brother,” Garmadon said. “The rest of us will locate the light matter.”

Nya followed me off the dragon with Sensei and Lloyd not too far behind, and we each mounted the one we were going to follow.

“I hope it’s not too late to stop whatever it is they’re planning,” I said.

 

**Blake’s POV**

“Rrr, she could be anywhere!” Des snapped. “And on top of that we have to be ready for those stupid Ninjas when they show up!”

I vainly tried to keep up with her. “Calm down. You need a clear head if we’re going to fight your sister.”

“I _know!_ I’m just. . . .” She stopped on a branch. “I can’t believe she would just turn her back on me.”

“I’m sure she’s still in there. Once we get her to come to her senses she’ll be your sister again.”

Her eyes narrowed and hardened. “She’s not my sister. Family doesn’t turn on family.”

“Then we’ll make her see what the cost of betrayal is.” Without waiting for her reply, I took the lead. I don’t need the dark matter to finish the job. I _am_ the dark matter.

Seconds later she had caught up with me. “By the way, what light is inside Janet anyway?”

“It’s not her light. It’s someone else’s.”

“Who’s is it?”

“Someone who’s arch enemy is—”

Blurs of color zipped by us, and I grabbed Des’s wrist as we came to a halt.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Something to worry about.”

The main chunks of the blur slowed to a halt, allowing me to properly distinguish what they were. Scanning the air was a cheetah made of actual gold and a wolf made of actual silver. Riding them were Kai, Nya, Lloyd, and Wu.

“Them,” Des hissed. “Great.”

I held my hand up as my attention remained glued to them.

“Why’d they stop?” Kai asked.

The animals’ gaze remained fixed in front of them until the cheetah, with a brief snarl, hurriedly continued on its way.

“Well, I guess it’s just you and me, brother,” Nya said, dismounting. Her brother quickly followed, and the two fanned out a few feet.

Des’s eyes remained fixed not on Kai, but the wolf. Appearing to sense this, it calmly turned around to meet her eyes. Its eyebrows furrowed as the siblings located us, the creature’s blue eyes maintaining their gaze. Suddenly she dropped down below, forcing me to follow.

I placed a firm hand on her shoulder, and Kai’s arm flinched for his sword. The sudden movement snapped Des out of whatever trance the wolf caught her in, and she assumed her stance.

“You,” Kai growled at me.

“Yes. Me,” I replied mockingly.

“Get out of the way,” Des demanded. “We have someone we need to take care of.”

“Ha. Trust me. It doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen,” Kai challenged.

“Fine, but don’t say we didn’t ask. Ninjaaa-GO!”

He yanked his hood on as Nya’s stance deepened, and I ran alongside Des before tackling his sister. “Nya!”

Nya shoved me off as footsteps hurried after me, but a breeze swept by me before coming to a halt.

“You want your sister? You’re gonna have to go through me,” Des snapped.

The two of us stood back to back, and the wolf appeared by Nya’s side.

“It’s you and me, Blake. Let’s do this.”


	24. Finding the Light, Fighting the Dark

**Jay’s POV**

“We’ve searched every inch of this place and still no sign of it!” I complained. “What are we missing?”

Garmadon hummed to himself in thought. “Perhaps we’re looking in the wrong places.”

“I’m pretty sure a temple of _light_ would have _light_ matter in it.”

“I meant we’re looking in places where we _expect_ to find it.”

Cole’s eyes glanced to the four pillars of the room. “What if we need to put our swords in like we did for the Golden Mech?”

“But we’d need Kai for that, and he’s all the way out there,” I said. “And we have no way of contacting him.”

Misako cocked her head at the bell. “Maybe the bell might . . . no, that wouldn’t work. . . .”

“Hey Zane, any suggest—Zane?” The guy was entirely ignoring us and walking right outside. “Uh, where are you going?”

“Upon arriving here, I noticed a 0.5 percent increase of brightness in the source of the light outside the temple,” he explained. “Perhaps there may be a clue there.”

Exchanging glances, the rest of us followed him out to the tower on the right.

Cole trailed Zane’s line of sight to the shining light. “What, up there?”

“I am picking up an energy reading emitting from one of the towers.”

The dragon’s footsteps turned my attention to him, and Zane hopped onto the ice head.

“Going up?”

After the rest of us hopped on, the dragon flew up to the roof, and we hopped off with Zane leading the way.

“Check out this view! You can see everything from up here!” I exclaimed. Despite the sense of doom hovering over this place, the green shade of the treetops under the afternoon sun easily made you forget this was an island of darkness. There was even a nice breeze that carried the scent of saltwater all the way out here.

Glancing back to the others, they were already nearing the tower. There, a golden cube could barely be seen through its light, and I had to squint the closer I inched to it.

“Anything?”

“Besides the blinding light over here? No not at all,” Cole replied.

Through squints, I could see Zane feeling the cube with his eyes closed. “There’s an inscription written on the cube, but I can’t seem to make it out.”

“Can you move it?” I asked.

“I . . . don’t see any reason to, but, let me see. . . .”

Gently, he began to carefully turn it away from him. Metal scraped against stone for a few seconds before something heavier began to move behind us, and rumbling soon followed.

“W-what’s going on?!” I asked.

“It’s revealing the light matter!” Misako exclaimed. “Look!”

We eased our way to where she disappeared to, and we were greeted with a secret storage space. And inside that space was a golden bowl harboring a golden substance.

“Excellent work, Zane!” Garmadon praised.

I studied the light matter with a raised eyebrow. “So uh, how much do you think we need?”

Cole cautiously reached his hand out and brushed his fingertips against the matter. “I don’t think we’ll need that much. I barely even touched it and I can tell how powerful this stuff is.”

Slipping his hood off, he scooped up a few handfuls of it before placing the matter inside his hood. But before he could finish, the bowl was instantly sealed away, and the cube turned back to its original position. “Let’s hope it’s not too late to reach them.”

 

**Sensei’s POV**

There was still no sign of Janet, and I would have begun to believe that she had hidden herself well were it not for the cheetah’s persistency. Many twists and turns, and even ups and downs we had to follow, and many times the trail even backtracked.

“There are signs of a struggle scattered across the trail,” I inferred.

“She has to be fighting back,” Lloyd confirmed. “It’s . . . amazing how strongly she’s fighting it off.”

“Alone she may be strong, but with others, she can be unstoppable.”

“We’re stronger united.”

All of a sudden the three of us were lurched away from the ground and into the air, and we crashed down in different directions. Shaking my head, I sat up to see earth shards obscuring someone from view.

“ _Don’t_ you come any closer,” Janet growled.

Upon spotting her, the most noticeable thing was a decently sized spot stemming from her heart revealing her gold suit. With closer inspection, I noticed half of her left eye was a fierce green.

Lloyd was about to speak when the cheetah stalked forward. Her gold eyes examined Janet, and the Ninja fought against restraints invisible to the naked eye. The tip of the cat’s tail twitched as it smoothly swayed, and Janet’s arms gradually lowered.

My nephew glanced to the skies with a prayer in his green eyes. “C’mon, guys. Where are you?”

Janet shook her head, and lightning began to crackle between her fingertips. In a heartbeat the cheetah whirled around to bring Lloyd down to the ground just as threads of lightning skimmed over their heads.

“Ninjaa-GO!” I leapt to the rocks and hopped from one to the other before bringing my staff down.

By the skin of her teeth the Gold Ninja lunged out of the way, and she summoned her sword to retaliate. Instantly she winced, and she began to struggle to dismiss her sword.

“Sensei. . . .” she strained to warn.

Thunderous wing flaps brought everyone’s attention to the skies. The Ultra Dragon roared triumphantly as the rest of the team save for my brother jumped down. In Cole’s hand was his hood glowing with what I could only assume was the light matter.

“Just in time!” he announced, but the notion only caused Janet to grip her sword with both hands with a low growl.

“Eeeasy there, Janet,” Jay soothed in a nervous tone. “Niiice and easy.”

“You’re outnumbered,” Garmadon stated. “Your best decision is to stand down.”

“Or else what?”

Holding Kai and Nya hostage was Destiny and Blake, and the wolf was unwillingly as submissive as a domestic dog.

“How about a trade?” Blake challenged. “Your friends, for the Gold Ninja.”

“Uh, ahem, you ever considered the fact that you’re waaay outnumbered?” Jay asked.

Blake formed a sword of dark matter and held it close to Nya. “That has never bothered me before, Blue Ninja, and I don’t think it ever will.” Kai squirmed under Destiny’s grip as Nya swallowed.

“Ohhh don’t you even _think_ about it!”

“Then hand over the Gold Ninja!”

The group remained silent as Janet’s eyes darted around. Even the dragon felt the tension in the air.

“You lose someone no matter what. There is no point in worming your way out of this.”

Cole’s eyes darted from Janet to Kai and Nya, and I could see a sort of glint in his eyes. Clenching a fist, he pulled his Earth Sword out to summon its blade, and he pointed its tip at Janet.

“Cole! What are you—?”

“Saving our team, Zane. Now come on.”

Janet dared to stare down Cole and his unwavering gaze, but eventually she dismissed her sword before walking forward.

“And don’t try anything funny.”

Destiny seemed as surprised as the rest of us, but Blake carried on the trade as if in routine. I watched Cole’s every movement, and he remained as grave as ever as he readjusted his grip on his hood.

_What are you planning, Cole?_

The group met in the middle, and Kai and Nya were shoved forward while Janet begrudgingly took her place next to her sister.

“I bet you think you have the upper hand, don’t you, Blake?” Cole retorted. “Well think again!”

Blake rolled his eyes. “Please. If this is about numbers again then you’re out of hands to play.”

“Not yet.” His eyes glanced to Janet, and Blake’s eyes looked behind him before turning around.

Shock collided into us as Janet was reverting back to normal. She let out a breath as renewed vigor flared in her eyes.

“Nice one, Cole!” Jay cheered.

“How did you—?” Destiny whirled around to lock on to Cole’s hood, the light matter glowing. “ _You!_ What did you do?!”

“Like I said, we’re not out of hands just yet,” Cole challenged.

Janet forced Blake and Destiny forward as the rest of us began to close them in. “This is for your own good, Des.”

Destiny balled her fists as her back hit Blake’s, and she summoned a corrupted water whip.

 

**Blake’s POV**

My eyes darted from one member of the team to the next as the rest of the Ninjas readied their elemental swords. “We’re outnumbered, Destiny. We need to retreat.”

“Oh no! I am _not_ retreating from these guys!”

Curling my fingers, I reached for her hand. “Listen to me. Look at their numbers. It’s us against all of them. If we’re going to get your sister back, we need to retreat.”

Kai, unsurprisingly, was the first to attack, and I formed a sword of dark matter to meet his blade. Des took the chance to blast water at her sister, who merely froze it. Immediately the Ninjas divided to conquer, but I refused to back down.

“It’s good to have you back, Janet,” Lloyd said from behind.

“Good to be back,” she replied.

“Keep her still, Janet!” Cole called, avoiding a watery tentacle by a few inches.

I shot Zane back and blocked Wu’s staff before kicking Kai’s thigh. “Stay close to me, Destiny!”

“I’m—busy—here!” she barked between hits.

“Cole! Up here!” Garmadon called.

The Black Ninja chucked his hood at the old man, and I was about to blast it out of range when Nya kicked my hand. My sword dissipated the moment it hit the ground, and I slide kicked Kai before pinning him down.

“You’re not getting rid of us that easily,” I breathed. “Especially me.”

We tousled in the dirt and knocked over Nya and Zane, both of us swatting away each other’s punches. The ground shook behind me as the earth shifted, and a yelp from Des was quick to follow. I stole a glance over my shoulder at Janet and Lloyd just securing hastily formed earthen chains to her wrists, giving Kai the opportunity to throw me off of him.

From the dragon, Garmadon was aiming a handful of a golden substance at Des. With a growl I abandoned my opponents and freed her with a pulse, forcing the others back. The earth shattered like glass, and I was barely able to shield her from the golden substance. A searing sensation ripped through my upper arm, and I cried out in pain.

“The matter burns him!” Kai shouted.


	25. The Strength Within

**Janet’s POV**

Furious, Des swept Lloyd, Misako, Wu, and me away with one tendril, and she angrily blasted everyone else all the way toward the dragon. “Are you okay?”

Blake huffed as he straightened up. “I’ll be fine!”

As the team and I worked together to keep Blake and Des at bay, I began to realize something. Everyone’s pitching in to save my sister. I know I can save her myself with all the elements I control, but somehow, a voice in the back of my head constantly told me that I don’t have to do everything by myself. And it wasn’t a man’s voice this time.

I flipped over a blast from Blake and once again froze another stream of water from Des. A surge of heat flared up behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder to be greeted with a wall of flames blocking Blake from getting to me, fresh from Kai’s sword.

“Over here!” Jay called. “I’ll give you a boost!”

As the flames died out with a _hiss_ , I rolled under a stream of purple and jumped up. With his hands Jay boosted me up into the air, and I fired lightning to separate Blake and Des.

“Ice!” Zane and I formed an icy wall between the duo and ultimately frustrated Des.

While Sensei and Misako kept her busy, Cole and Nya joined me in facing off against Blake. It was two blades and a pair of fists against one sword, and Nya quickly seized the chance to sweep her leg under Blake. With an irritated growl he blasted us back, and the resonance of the dark matter blared out.

Shooting to my feet, I joined Lloyd in firing at Blake. He immediately dropped to the ground, and my wind and his green light shattered the icy wall, revealing a small wall of dark matter surrounding Des. And strangely her back was turned with her hand outstretched toward the rest of the jungle.

“Quick! Take the shot!” Jay yelled.

“May I remind you we have a limited supply on our hands?!” Garmadon warned.

“Well how much do we have?” I asked.

“Only enough for one person!”

The team and I stood side by side against Blake. I could feel some form of strength beginning to bud inside of me, and my mind was filled with nothing but focus. “Well whatever happens next, I won’t be fighting alone.”

“Here here!” Jay agreed.

When Nya glanced to me, her expression turned to one of confusion. “Since when did you have gold eyes?”

“What?” I asked.

“What is that?” Lloyd asked warily, his attention up ahead.

Peering ahead, I could spot a dark, slithering mass rocketing toward us. Soon everyone else noticed it, and we all took cautious steps back. Before we could figure out what it was, it was too late.

Destiny suddenly whipped around and directed the dark tendril at me. Exclamations from the team rang out as they stumbled back, and I cried out as I was raised into the air.

“What are you _doing_?” Nya asked, horrified.

“She’s using her powers to their fullest extent,” Blake shot, lowering the dark matter wall.

With a stretch of her hand Destiny spread the murky-looking water to everyone else. Shouts and cries of pain from everyone filled the air as we strained to break free. Even the animals were helpless against her.

“What— _is_ this?!” Cole shouted as he fought.

I couldn’t move at all. Everything inside me felt frozen, and the biting cold I had felt from before dominated every part of me. And whatever power I felt welling up inside was probably gone.

And who was I kidding? Even with everyone’s help, we still couldn’t get to her. This is hopeless.

Glancing to Des, I saw no trace of my sister. The merciless look on her face deepened the hopelessness I had. And looking around to everyone else, I saw nothing but fear in their eyes.

But one person was missing.

Blake’s hands curled in fists. “Where’s the Red Ninja?!”

“Right here!”

In his hand was Cole’s hood, and in his other hand was the last of the light matter.

Instantly Blake charged straight for him, but Kai threw the matter seconds before Blake collided into him. I watched as it flew right into Destiny’s chest, making her stumble and lose her grip on the water.

“It’s over, Blake,” Kai shot. “You’re at the end of your rope!”

One by one, Destiny began to release the team. But whatever darkness was in her water seemed to slow down the light matter’s work.

“Bring your sister down!” Blake ordered.

The dark water slithered away to let me drop, and Cole, Zane, and Sensei began to take their place beside me. Summoning my sword, I had signaled Cole and Zane to ready theirs. Despite the lingering shock in their eyes, each of them had a flickering but renewed vigor to them.

Blake gradually went from a stalk to a run as he dug his nails into his hand. From his hand, I could just make out a clump of dark matter growing and taking shape. Within seconds we were locked in combat, and a knife of pure dark matter was beginning to form.

“I’ve been as _patient as ever_ trying to get you to stay under my thumb, but it seems as though I need to do _everything myself!_ ” he seethed.

“Well you still have us to deal with!” Cole fired back.

He blocked and parried all of our attacks, and together the four of us gave him everything we had. As more of the team came together, Blake furiously strained to keep up with us. That empowered feeling I had came back, and the wind began to pick up. I _know_ we can stop this guy. Together.

 

**3rd** **person** **POV**

Fear began to sneak its way into Blake’s eyes at the sight of Janet's now gold eyes. Wind began to swirl around her, and everyone was forced to fall back.

A gold light began to shine from her as a vortex of wind raised her up. A matching force field rippled around her, and the wind began to tear at everything. The earth began to shake as thick shards began to emerge, and particles of it encircled her legs. Fire from thin air surrounded her arms. Lightning flashed between her finger tips as a bolt came dangerously close to Blake. Ice froze the ground underneath her. And she was a force to be reckoned with.

“Her true potential!” Jay realized. “She’s unlocked it!”

“I think we better find cover, guys. The wind’s really picking up!” Nya yelled over the wind.

“Whaaat?!” Kai asked.

“We need to find cover!” Zane repeated.

“What about Destiny?!”

“I can’t see her!” Cole shouted.

The force field coated her body, and she directed ice and earth at Blake. The elements clawed at his right eye, making him yell in anguish. Fire and lightning were hurled at him, and his cry filled the air as the elements skimmed over him. Finally, a Blake-sized tornado of air ensnared him before raising him up to Janet’s eye level. A glower from her sent another shock of fear into the successor’s heart, and bolts of lightning rained down on the island.

The Ultra Dragon raised his wings to shield the team as debris even from the abandoned dark matter digging site began to litter the air. Even particles of dirt and sand were getting kicked up. But it wasn’t enough.

“Lloyd! Your force field!” Zane exclaimed.

Effortlessly Janet sent Blake soaring away from the island and towards the sea. With her true potential at its peak, the wind tore at everything and even caused some trees to snap like twigs.

“It’s now or never, Lloyd!” Nya yelled.

Janet closed her eyes, feeling the unique pulse of every element she could control. A few moments went by before she came across the man who was fighting off the clawed hands. Sword in hand and hat obscuring his eyes, he nodded to her in respect.

And all the noise she heard suddenly snapped off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so listening to "Ocean Spirit" from ATLA made Janet's true potential so much more epic. Just saying.


	26. Back to Normal?

The hum of Lloyd’s powers was the first thing that broke the silence. The heroes of Ninjago slowly raised their heads to a starry sky coated in golden strings of light. Opening one eye at a time, Lloyd eased the shield down as the Ultra Dragon lowered his wings.

“Woah. . . .” the boys breathed. The ground was littered with debris, branches, and traces of the four elements. Trees that were bent were covered with a layer of dirt, but what caught their attention was an awakening Gold Ninja. “Janet!”

“Ugh, what happened?” she groaned as the young heroes flocked to her.

“You have unlocked your true potential,” Sensei Wu said.

“My . . . what?”

“You must’ve overcome an obstacle within yourself,” Zane stated.

_An obstacle within myself. . . ._ “I guess . . . finally accepting that it’s okay to need help must’ve been it.”

“You were amazing!” Jay complimented.

“I think she nearly outshined all of us,” Cole joked.

Although he was proud of his teammate, Kai’s smile faded at the absence of Destiny.

“But . . . where’s Destiny?” Lloyd asked, also concerned.

The group scanned the area for any sign of their friend. But no glint of silver caught their eyes.

“Okay, who’s the one that smacked my head five minutes ago?”

Unanimously they looked off to their far right to see a familiar brunette rubbing the back of her head, her ninja hood off and her hair a wind-swept mess.

“Destiny!” the group cheered.

She caught sight of the young heroes rushing up to her, and the second she was on her feet they tackled her in a hug.

“You’re okay!” Nya exclaimed.

“I’m glad you’re back, Des,” Kai spoke.

“Me too,” Destiny replied with a soft smile. As everyone else parted, those two contently remained exactly where they were.

“Ahem?” Jay said.

The duo’s eyes shot open, and they hastily released each other with sheepish expressions.

“It’s good to have you back, Destiny,” Misako said.

Destiny gave the elders a kind smile, but it faded away as the memories of her deeds under the dark matter immediately surfaced. “I am so . . . so sorry for everything I did. Everything.”

“Me too,” Janet added solemnly.

“You guys weren’t yourselves,” Kai assured. “Blake is the one to blame here.”

“And boy did he get what he deserved!” Cole added.

“You really knocked him out of the park!” Jay beamed.

Nosing her way through, the wolf looked to Destiny, who reared back at her sudden appearance. Much like before, they locked eyes with each other for a few intriguing moments. Respectfully, the canine lowered her head, and Destiny gingerly rubbed the wolf’s head.

“Um, nice wolf?” Destiny queried.

Having finally found the Ninja of Silver, the wolf tackled her and licked her face.

“Hey—! Easy!”

As for Janet and the cheetah, they both made steady eye contact as they circled one another.

“This is . . . uh. . . .” Janet started.

After a few circles they switched directions, until finally they stopped. The cheetah nosed Janet’s hand with a quiet _maow_ , and the Gold Ninja accepted her.

Destiny’s hand remained entangled in the wolf’s fur, feeling strangely—at least to her—calm. “Is it weird to say this feels—”

“Right?” Janet finished. “Not sure.”

“Well, I guess that solves that,” Nya concluded. “Let’s go home, guys.”

 

 

****Nya’s POV** **

Weeks have passed since our final encounter with the Overlord’s successor. The citizens welcomed Janet and Des back with our help, and the cheetah and wolf easily made themselves at home with us. Janet had named the cheetah Dawn while Destiny took the name Midnight for the wolf. Everyone still trained every now and then, but after a while, no one found a reason to anymore. There just wasn’t an enemy to fight. Even Sensei, Misako, and Garmadon came to that conclusion.

“I’m still keeping my eye on you, Mr. Hot Head,” Janet said. We were relaxing at the park and Janet had been eyeing my brother for the past twenty minutes.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Kai brushed off.

“I dunnooo,” Jay chirped. “You and Des have been hanging out a lot lately.”

“They _have_ been getting rather close,” Zane added with a smile.

“We might have another pair of lovebirds on our hands,” Cole teased.

“Oh cut it out!” Des said. Dawn yawned in disinterest as she continued to soak up the sun, her pelt still glimmering with traces of gold and black diamonds.

Suddenly Kai straightened up. “Uh what time is it?”

“Three-ish. Why?”

“Ah man!” He shot off the bench within the blink of an eye.

“What the—where are you going?!”

Midnight nudged her with a dopey grin on her face.

“I think someone has an idea,” Zane teased.

Holding a grin back, Des followed Midnight down the path Kai took.

 

**Destiny’s POV**

“Okay, he’s been taking off for no reason at all and it’s getting really annoy—”

Midnight scooped me up before shooting forward.

“Ahh! Are you behind something?”

All I got in response was a gleeful bark. All right, what’s going on here? Are these two—ugh.

After a few minutes Midnight slowed to a halt by a restaurant. Glancing to her, she gave me a grin as she panted. When I looked up, I spotted Kai smirking with his arms crossed.

“What are you up to?”

“Trust me. You’ll like this,” Kai reassured.

I shook my head with a sigh. “You ninjas and your secrecy.”

Following him to the entrance, he reached for the door. “After you—”

An employee beat him to the punch, leaving him hanging. “Welcome.”

I couldn’t help snickering as I walked inside, catching an annoyed look from Kai. The content expression of the man soon changed as he laid eyes on Midnight.

“Um she’s with us,” Kai said.

“No worry. Service animals are welcome here,” the employee said.

Midnight snorted at the title, and we carried on inside to what was apparently a fancy restaurant. A chandelier greeted us as Kai confidently approached the small desk up front. Up ahead, there was a chef effortlessly preparing food right in front of some guests.

“Reservations?” I asked.

“Right this way, Ninjas,” a woman said.

All he did was smirk as the three of us followed the woman to a table. Once we were seated, she handed us menus before going off. “This was really hard to get in to, by the way.”

“Even for the high and mighty hero of Ninjago?”

“Hey! Don’t sell me too short.”

I gave him a flash of a challenging smirk. “Things are gonna be interesting, aren’t they?”

“Heh. You think so, huh?”

“Well let’s see. You suddenly take off, _Midnight_ even knew what was going on, and I’m beginning to think you two were in cahoots and—and now there’s a rose on the table. Where did you get—why—?”

He laughed in self satisfaction. “Just relax.”

We both smiled at each other as the waiter approached our table. Snapping our attention off of each other, we ordered our food and drinks. After that it was pretty quiet between us.

Midnight pawed at Kai’s sneaker in impatience, and he cleared his throat to cover up the notion.

“So, you like it?”

“Best place I’ve ever eaten at.”

“I knew you’d like it.”

I couldn’t help laughing a bit, and he smiled contently.

Gingerly he placed his hand on mine, and I had flashbacks to Blake doing the same thing. Then the chain of thoughts zipped to the Dark Waters gripping the team and my sister.

All because of me.

I could never forget their cries of pain, especially my sister’s. How could I. . . ?

“Des?”

I blinked back to the present.

“You looked a little distant. Everything okay?”

My eyes drifted to our hands, and with a quiet sigh through the nose I retracted my hand a bit. “What I did a couple weeks ago, I . . .” I let out a sigh, “I just need to remember that I can’t change the past. I also need to remember that you, Janet, and the others are here to support one another, no matter what.”

“Aaaand don’t forget I was the one who snapped you out of it.”

I laughed in spite of myself. “All right. I’ll admit that. I saved you. . . .”

“And I, saved you.”

Smiling softly, I reached for his hand. “Not just you, Spike. Everyone else, too. But yeah, you did.”

Our food finally arrived, and we chatted over the meal with Midnight giving her input. Besides getting to know each other’s techniques, we finally got to know each other a little more. Turns out he’s the first blacksmith I’ve met.

After that, we made our way out and walked under the city lights, the sun just beginning to set.

“You think we’ve been keeping everyone waiting?” I joked.

“Ahh I’m sure they can wait a little longer,” Kai said smoothly.

“You just want me aaaall to yourself, don’t you?”

“Well. . . .”

We both glanced to Midnight walking behind us, her fur maintaining its glistening silver even now.

“I totally let your sister beat me the other day.”

I laughed again. “I’m sure you did. But, I got you pretty good the day before that.”

“Not before _I_ pinned you down.”

“Ah but I kneed you _before_ you pinned me down.”

“And _I_ did Spinjitzu before _you_ did that.”

“Sure you did.”

“Admit it. You can’t catch _me_ off guard.”

I smirked at the claim. “Oh, by the way,” I pecked him on the cheek, “thanks for dinner.”

That left him stunned as ever.

“Well, ‘bout time you two came around!”

We glanced to Cole crossing his arms with a smirk.

“Nice rose, Des,” Janet said.

“I think someone’s in a daze,” Zane teased, immediately putting a glare on Kai’s face.

“Heh. I remember our first date,” Jay said. “You remember, Nya?”

“Don’t think you can forget turning into a snake,” she commented.

“Wait. He turned into a snake?” Janet and I asked.

“Uhhh that one’s gonna have to wait,” Jay said.

“You ready to head back?” Lloyd asked with a smirk.

Kai and I nodded, and we all began the walk back home.

“Feels nice to have a home to go to again,” I said.

“Especially with these guys,” Janet agreed.

A content silence fell over us, and I soaked in the feeling of home again. Janet and I are gonna be just fine. I know it.

“Sooo what happens now?” Cole asked. “The fight’s over, the Overlord’s gone, and there’s no enemies left to fight.”

Everyone stayed quiet for a bit.

“I guess we just . . . stay on the lookout for trouble,” Kai answered.

“Because there will always be a need for Ninjas,” Zane said. “And a Samurai.”

“Always,” Lloyd agreed.

“Excuse me. Are you the ones who saved Ninjago from the Overlord?”

We all turned around to see a man in a wheelchair.

“Indeed we are!” Jay answered proudly.

“And these young ladies here?” The man gestured to Janet and me.

“They’re pretty new, but I’m sure they’ll be able to handle anything,” Kai said, and I elbowed him playfully.

The man smiled in greeting. “Eh call me Cyrus, Cyrus Borg.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus we reach the end of Book 1. I hope you guys enjoyed this. There'll be plenty more books in the future and I am so excited to get to them. As for general ideas about what they'll be about:
> 
> Book 2 will take place during Season 3 and will delve a little more into Destiny and Janet's origins. More things with Janet and Lloyd's connection will have some light shed upon them.
> 
> Book 3 is between Seasons 3 and 4 and will consist of a crossover. The team will be in search of some of their comrades.
> 
> Book 4 (which I'm in the middle of writing on my Tumblr side blog silver-ninja-of-the-tides) takes places during Season 4 so you might be able to guess what'll kind of go down. Also the identity of the light within Janet will be revealed.
> 
> Book 5 (during Season 5; I'm so excited for that one) I'm pretty sure will explore more of Lloyd and Janet's connection and will reveal exactly what Destiny's power is and where it came from.
> 
> There's the other seasons but that's way into the conceptual stages. But anyway, my next story will be a Frozen one called "The Mystery," and it has a lot of Hans in it. So stay tuned for that! :)


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